Hide and Seek: The Search for Truth in Iraq (PublicAffairs), by Charles Duelfer

As a U.N. weapons inspector in pre-war Iraq, Charles Duelfer saw up close the repression of Saddam Hussein. But he was no supporter of George Bush's bungled regime change. Hide and Seek is a nuanced reckoning by a man who knew Iraq intimately, an eyewitness before and after the invasion. According to Duelfer, Saddam Hussein was a threat to his neighbors and profited handsomely from economic sanctions with the help of Syria and Russia. While believing Bush's objective was good, he condemns the means as fatally flawed, conceived in arrogance and ignorance. Duelfer's account adds to the discussion of what went wrong. (David Luhrssen)