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The Spymaster of Baghdad

The Untold Story of the Elite Intelligence Cell That Turned the Tide Against ISIS

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The Spymaster of Baghdad

By: Margaret Coker
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The Spymaster of Baghdad is the gripping story of the top-secret Iraqi intelligence unit that infiltrated the Islamic State. More so than that of any foreign power, the information they gathered turned the tide against the insurgency, paving the way to the killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019.

Against the backdrop of the most brutal conflict of recent decades, we chart the spymaster's struggle to develop the unit from scratch in challenging circumstances after the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, we follow the fraught relationship of two of his agents, the Sudani brothers - one undercover in ISIS for 16 long months, the other his handler - and we track a disillusioned scientist as she turns bomb-maker, threatening the lives of thousands.

With unprecedented access to characters on all sides, Pulitzer Prize-finalist Margaret Coker challenges the conventional view that Western coalition forces defeated ISIS and reveals a story of unlikely heroes, unbelievable courage and good old-fashioned spycraft.

©2021 Margaret Coker (P)2021 Penguin Audio Espionage Middle East Military True Crime Iran War

Critic Reviews

"Authentic, moving, visceral, chilling, utterly revelatory, truly masterful. A stunning tour de force by an author who has lived every word of it on the ground. A story of our time that absolutely needs to be told." (Damien Lewis, author of Zero Six Bravo)
All stars
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Books that detail a sad story are difficult to hear and this one is eye opening
One of the things that is obvious is how normal and how difficult Iraqi life was in modern times
I was left with in awe of people's dedication to wanting to build a better Iraq
Its a well written account and very engaging

Sadly, very good

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A well told and in-depth book about the sacrifice made by two brothers to infiltrate a terrorist organisation, and a young woman's path from university student to plotting a potentially devastating terrorist attack.

There's not many audio books I've listed to more than once, this book is one of the few. It's both moving and informative.

Heartbreaking and moving book

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This is an amazing true story of the Iraqi intelligence war against ISIS. Previously I had believed that coalition forces were running the whole effort but this is incorrect. The Iraqis were leading the way in defending their country against Islamic terrorists. Highly recommended.

Compelling tale of sacrifice

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Very captivating book, especially from a quarter of the way through right to the end. High recommend

Amazing story.

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It starts a little slowly but it picks up steam and is a fantastic story by the end after all of the separate threads are finally woven together.

Slow start, great read

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Wonderful, intriguing and difficult to put down. I was listening in all my spare time.

Intrigue

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Really slow story, not engaging and the narration is dull and unengaging. I didn't know it was possible to make espionage boring

Slow story, dull performance

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Took to long to get to the crux of the story. From midway the story gets interesting.

Too much fluff at beginning of book

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