Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Shia insurgency and the Mehdi Army, is the most important political figure in post-occupation Iraq. At first grossly underestimated by the US, Muqtada has become the kingmaker of this divided country through a potent combination of nationalism and religious fervour.
This is the first biography of the controversial and influential cleric, and draws on Patrick Cockburn’s more than thirty years of reporting from the Middle East, as well as being one of the few books to be based on interviews with Iraqi eyewitnesses. Muqtada al-Sadr is compulsory reading for anyone who wishes to understand the current state of Iraq. This paperback edition includes a new afterword which updates the story of Muqtada’s rise.
- Winner of the Orwell Prize for Journalism 2009
- Patrick Cockburn on Journalisted