This is an excellent history of the city of Baghdad from its founding by the Abbasid Caliph Mansur in 750 to 2011.
Marozzi has read the sources well. He gives us a flavour of the political and social aspects of the city. We read of the famous travellers to Baghdad like Ibn Battuta and the not so well known like Leonhard Raulwolff of Bavaria, Germany. We learn of the atrocities of the conquerors like Hulagu and Tamerlane.
The story flows briskly like the Tigris, which divides Baghdad into two. This is an epic history. Highly recommended.