While the Iraq War started in 2003 for the United States, it had already been going on for nearly a decade by the time journalist Rory McCarthy started gathering these haunting personal stories for the people living in a war-torn world.

The companion novel to Myers' Vietnam-era Fallen Angels, this one stars Robin Perry, who joins the army in 2003 at the beginning of the Iraq War. Eventually, he finds himself more and more distanced from people back home.

In 2003, Riverbend began a blog called Baghdad Burning. Of course, that's a pseudonym, but the young Iraqi woman's blog captured the attention of readers around the world, even winning awards. Her blog posts—which ended in 2007—are compiled here.