The Unraveling, Emma Sky
The Unraveling, Emma Sky
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The Unraveling
High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq

Author: Emma Sky

Narrator: Henrietta Meire

Unabridged: 11 hr 52 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/31/2016

Synopsis

When Emma Sky, an intrepid young British woman, volunteered to help rebuild Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, she had little idea what she was letting herself in for: a tour that would last over a decade, longer than that of any senior military of political official. As the only adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Kirkuk and the closest confidante to U.S. General Odierno, Sky was valued for her controversial voice and outsider's point of view—during the most painful stages of the war, she was one of the few to develop friendships and relationships with both Iraqis and Americans alike.

In the West, violence in Iraq is typically explained away as the symptom of psychopathic terrorists, blurring and arbitrary colonial borders, and ancient hatreds between Sunni and Shia. But the violence stems from weak governance and corrupt elites, empowered by the U.S.-led coalition, who use sectarianism to mobilize support and fail to deliver service to the meet the needs of the country's citizens. Women and men, Iraqis and Americans, soldiers and civilians, the ordinary and yet extraordinary, Western cultures and Eastern all collide in Iraq.

About Emma Sky

Emma Sky was raised in England and attended a boys boarding school from age seven to thirteen; her stepfather was a teacher there and her mother was a house mother. She earned her undergraduate degree in oriental studies at Oxford University's Somerville College. Sky has worked at senior levels on behalf of the U.S. and U.K. governments, in Iraq, Afghanistan and Jerusalem, across the fields of development, defense, and diplomacy, and with multi civilian and military agencies. Sky was made a Member of the British Empire in 2003 and an Officer of the British Empire in 2008 in recognition of her service in Iraq.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Marcus on September 03, 2015

I first encountered Emma Sky when briefing General Odierno in late 2008. She was not introduced and sat unobtrusively beside the Commanding General. An inquisitive elfin-like character, Sky observed and listened to my brief to the General. Unlike Odierno’s many questions, she asked just one; but it......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on June 14, 2015

Emma Sky does a wonderful job in describing the Iraq War from a non-military perspective, moreover, her observations on military culture are spot on. Sky, over the course of nearly a decade developed a profound understanding of Iraqi politics and culture, there may be no better expert other than Ira......more

Goodreads review by Joseph on February 22, 2022

Very insightful and readable book that Iraq students/scholars should definitely check out. Sky skillfully blends analysis and memoir of her time as an adviser to Generals Odierno and Petraeus. In all she spent at least 5 years in Iraq during the height of the war with incredible access to top policy......more

Goodreads review by Francisco on May 01, 2015

One of the best “fly-on-the-wall” observations into what went right and wrong in Iraq written to explore what might have been, Emma’s insights, tinged with self-effacing humor, are a bitter-sweet chronicle of the last, lost decade. From the admissions at the Chilcot Inquiry that preparations, strate......more

Goodreads review by Murtaza on December 29, 2016

Impressive memoir of Emma Sky's time as a political advisor to the U.S. military in Iraq. I read it for research purposes but what was particularly moving was her deep empathy and love for all parties involved in the war, both the Iraqis and the Americans. Despite her deep opposition to the conflict......more

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