In this informative volume the author provides a complete history of relations between Iran and Iraq, and analyses the present conflict, and the possibility of peace in the future. He explains how relations are complicated by over ten centuries of religious and cultural differences. The Iraqis see the war as a political dispute over national boundaries, the Iranains as a religious war, with no political boundaries. For anyone concerned about the turmoil in the Middle East, this volume offers a mine of information, which is both enlightening and disturbing.