Winner of the Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2013 This is the true story of a murder that sums up the stink of invading Iraq and why the Iraq story is far from over.

Winner of Orwell Prize 2013.

"For all its forensic detail, the book grips us emotionally, and has as keen a sense of storytelling as a horror story of courtroom drama. Ultimately, the greatest achievement of this incendiary, eloquent and angry book is that it humanises Mousa beyond the iconic and infamous figure he has become in his death" Judges of the Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2013 "This is a landmark book. Fluently, meticulously, A. T. Williams allows us to understand both the murderous nature of colonial war and the insidious moral corruption behind its institutional facades" -- John Pilger "What to do after reading it? some might put this book away and try to forget about it, the way you would a bad dream. Others will feel changed by the awareness. A few will channel their feelings into action. There can't be any better definition of political writing at its most excellent" Independent "Andrew Williams is an academic lawyer with the tenacity of a detective and the literary flair of the best kind of investigative journalist, and his account of the fate of Baha Mousa, a young Iraqi man who was beaten to death by his guards in a British military prison, is one of the most important pieces of writing to come out of the Iraq War." -- Richard Lloyd Parry, Author Of People Who Eat Darkness "Anyone who hopes to avoid repeating the such calamities in future wars should read this book" -- Jack Fairweather, Author Of A War Of Choice

Andrew Williams is a law professor at the University of Warwick and Director of the Centre for Human Rights in Practice.