Suq Al-Saray, Al-Mutanabbi Street and the book trade in Baghdad in the 1940s: A personal narrative

A personal narrative describing the selling and publishing of books in Baghdad in the 1940s in the old Suq Al Saray where virtually all bookshops were located at that time. The essay also includes consideration of Al Mutanabbi Street which became associated with the public marketing of books and other publications. It is shown that the period considered reflects on a society, city and a country that had many positive features such as cohesion, aspirations and strengths that have virtually little resemblance to the Iraq and Baghdad of recent decades.