Imperial Life in the Emerald City


Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone is a 2006 book by Rajiv Chandrasekaran that takes a critical look at the civilian leadership of the American reconstruction project in Iraq. Centered mainly on the actions of the Coalition Provisional Authority, within the Green Zone of Baghdad, Chandrasekaran details the events from the end of the invasion phase of the war until the official transfer of power to the Iraqis and the growing insurgency in the country.
In the prologue to the book, Chandrasekaran states that his work does not take a side for or against the United States' invasion of Iraq, simply treating it as a given, and instead focuses purely on examining how the post-invasion occupation was handled.

Awards

The book was chosen as one of the best non-fiction books of 2006/2007 by Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times
and the Los Angeles Times. The book also won the 2007 Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction and the 2006 Overseas Press Club of America award, and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award 2007.

Film adaptation

The nonfiction book has been adapted into a fictional thriller written by Brian Helgeland and directed by Paul Greengrass. The film stars Matt Damon, Amy Ryan, and Greg Kinnear.