"The war is defined as the three-week military campaign beginning in March 2003 and ending with the capture of Baghdad in April 2003. Introductory chapters discuss events leading up to the invasion, going back to the breakup of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Saddam Hussein's rise to power and the origins of the Baath Party, the Persian Gulf War of 1991, and September 11 and the subsequent actions in Afghanistan. The book concludes with a discussion of the occupation as of May 2003."