In A Brief History of Iraq, Anastas Marie Al-Karmali offers an intensive journey across thousands of years in the land of the first civilizations, from Sumer, Babylon, and Assyria, through the Chaldeans, Greeks, Romans, and Sassanids, all the way to the Islamic era when Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasids, flourished. The author skillfully narrates the strengths and weaknesses of the caliphate's rule, then places the reader in the midst of a moment of collapse with the Mongol invasion, followed by the eras of the Ottoman Empire, and finally the British occupation in 1914. This book is not merely a chronological account; it is a mirror of Iraqi civilization, which has risen and fallen many times, yet has always remained a beacon of thought and creativity. It is a work that combines depth and clarity, offering the reader a concise summary of the history of a country considered the heart of the East and its cultural incubator.

أنستاس ماري الكرملي (1866–1947م) راهب ولغوي عراقي من أبرز علماء اللغة. أسس مجلة «لغة العرب» في بغداد. كتب دراسات لغوية وتاريخية وأدبية ثرية. وأسهم في إحياء التراث العربي عبر بحوثه.