• Introduction -- Iraq and the Origins of the Iran-Iraq War -- Iran and the Politics of the War -- Iraqi Politics and War Strategies -- Iran: War and Society -- The Impact of War on Iraqi Politics -- Iran: The War and the Economy -- Iraq and the Region -- Iran and the Region -- Iraq and the Superpowers -- Iran and the Superpowers -- The Reckoning -- Iraq: Political and Military Chronology -- Iraq: Armed Forces 1980-87 -- Iran: Political and Military Chronology -- Iranian Forces: 1980-86

"In short, this book is required reading for specialists and students of the Iran-Iraq War and conflict more generally in the Middle East, Third World, and elsewhere. The book astutely analyzes the ideational and internal factors, more than the material and external ones, that triggered and prolonged the conflict. Moreover, the book sheds valuable light on the war’s impact on Iranian and Iraqi state and society, and how each influenced the other to continue losing blood and treasure, among other suboptimal outcomes, until Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini reluctantly drank from the poisoned chalice that ended the conflict." - Eric Lob, H-Net