Banking on Baghdad, published in October 2004, chronicles the tragic and turbulent 7,000-year history of Iraq. Banking on Baghdad is the first history of Iraq from a global stage, as determined by the corporate boardrooms and governmental war rooms of London, Paris, Istanbul, Washington and the other centers of commercial and political power that coveted its geography and geology. Black led a team of thirty researchers in five countries, accessing more than 100 repositories and securing some 50,000 documents. The author was granted special access to the corporate archives of numerous oil companies involved in Iraq and the Middle East. Banking on Baghdad immediately hit the Barnes & Noble bestseller list for International Fairs and was the basis for a 50-city tour. The volume lauded by Miami Herald as one of the year's Ten Best, won the World Affairs Council for Best World Affairs Book of 2004 and was submitted by Wiley Books for a Pulitzer nomination.