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Reading the News is a regular feature that I develop, write, edit, and produce for BookSense.com's many member websites. A recent example:

A Bright Shining Mess (December, 2003)
Although some might take the recent capture of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to mean mission accomplished for the Bush administration, the future of the Middle Eastern country -- and the United States' role in its development -- remains entirely uncertain.

U.S. and coalition forces continue to suffer casualties from attacks by Iraqi insurgents, Saddam supporters, Islamic militants, disgruntled citizens, and perhaps even followers of Al Qaeda. Neither an Iraqi constitution nor plans for a provisional or interim government are in place. Recent assassinations of a leading Shi'ite official and a popular Baath representative may foreshadow widespread violence between supporters of Iraq's two political parties. And finally, the fate of Saddam Hussein himself has yet to be decided.

The Second Gulf War and subsequent occupation of Iraq was the biggest news of 2003, and the country's continuing instability and strife will no doubt be one of the most important stories of 2004. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, read all about Saddam Hussein, Iraq, and both Gulf Wars in the following books.

A History of Iraq
by Charles Tripp
Updated to include events from as recent as the middle of 2002, Tripp's book tells the complicated political story of a country not unfamiliar with war, internal power-struggles, foreign interference, and general unrest. Starting in the 19th century with Iraq's position in the Ottoman Empire, Tripp takes readers through the fateful British involvement in the country, the Hashemite monarchy, the rise of the Ba'th party, and the ascendancy of Saddam Hussein. A History of Iraq is a concise and scholarly study of a modern Middle Eastern state still struggling with its place on the world stage.

Saddam Hussein: The Politics of Revenge
by Said K. Aburish
This ambitious biography details the life of the infamous and controversial Iraqi dictator from his destitute childhood to almost the present day. Author Aburish worked as a consultant to the Iraqi government during the 1970s, and his personal involvement makes for unique and penetrating psychological insight into Hussein's life, ambitions, and motivations. Thorough and fair, Aburish's book is essential and timely reading for those trying to comprehend -- or at the very least know more about -- the ominous personality behind the current headlines.

The Reckoning: Iraq and the Legacy of Saddam Hussein
by Sandra Mackey
An experienced Middle East journalist, Mackey's The Reckoning is an accessible and readable history of modern Iraq. Compellingly tracing the convoluted jumble of political, religious, ethnic, historical, and societal factors that gave rise to Saddam Hussein's oppressive dictatorship, Mackey's sobering and stunning theory presciently argues that, if Saddam eventually is ousted, Iraq could be become an even bigger financial and political quagmire for the United States.

Out of the Ashes: The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein
by Andrew and Patrick Cockburn
After the first Gulf War in 1991, many experts predicted that Saddam Hussein's regime would crumble; not only due to the massive military defeat and widespread destruction Hussein's country suffered, but because of harsh U.S.-led sanctions imposed on Iraq after the war. In Out of the Ashes, two journalist brothers combine their reporting skills -- Patrick spent 20 years covering the Middle East, and Andrew is an experienced U.S. government correspondent -- to explain with captivating clarity how Saddam Hussein managed to survive the first Gulf War and maintain his authoritarian grip on Iraq.