Baghdad in the modernity of the sixties

This is one of the rare books that depicts the history of modernity and documents it in place, tools, and intimate details. What preserves and protects cities is knowledge of their history, and what destroys them is ignorance of it and neglect of everything related to their emergence and formation. This book not only accurately depicts the social, cultural, and urban modernization of Baghdad but also illustrates an important phase and a period that the author called the Golden Age, which is the sixties of the last century. It is a very important era in all cities of the world. It is a period of major changes in culture, arts, ideas, and modern trends, and what followed was a regressive retreat and a collapse of great values that appeared during that phase. Jamal Haidar presents the reader with details of this era, how the new values entered, and how the Baghdad community became familiar with the products of that time, from Coca-Cola to fashion. He also provides a wonderful glimpse into the previous history, from the emergence of architecture, markets, and streets from the Ottoman era to the colonial era... and equipped with rare photos... It is a book of small stories, but these small stories are what built the glory of this city.