The Prisoner in His Palace

Saddam Hussein and the Twelve Americans Who Guarded Him

By: Will Bardenwerper

Narrated by: Danny Campbell

A book that, in the haunting tradition of In Cold Blood and The Executioner's Song, lifts away the top layer of evil and finds complexity beneath, this is the bizarre tale of 12 young American soldiers who are deployed to Iraq in the summer of 2006. Rather than fight the enemy in combat, the men are unexpectedly assigned to guard the country's notorious leader - Saddam Hussein - in the months leading to his execution.

Living alongside and caring for their "high-value detainee" in a former palace dubbed The Rock and regularly transporting him to his raucous trial, many of the men begin questioning some of their most basic assumptions.

Thoroughly researched and provocative, The Prisoner in His Palace contrasts two very different Saddams: the defiant younger man who uses torture and murder as tools and the older man who proves affectionate, charming, and unexpectedly courageous in the face of looming death. In this artfully constructed narrative, Saddam, the "man without a conscience", manages to get everyone around him to examine theirs. Many of those who bid good-bye to Saddam will be forever changed by the experience, and we wonder if we ourselves will.

©2017 Will Bardenwerper (P)2017 Simon & Schuster Audio

riveting

outstanding. I highly recommend it. not a single paragraph that i did not find interesting.

I don't know what to say

Behind every prisoner, murderer ,monster, dictator, a hidden human and you just need find it

human and monster

I listened to this book with an open mind. it is very interesting on how the US soldiers developed a friendship with such a monster. But I guess even a monster has its charm.

Genuinely enjoyed this!

This story is remarkable, wonderful, and intriguing. Highly recommend this for anyone who likes a story about soldiers.

Great Listen.. The human side of Saddam

Would you listen to The Prisoner in His Palace again? Why?

Yes, I hated for this book to be over, yes Saddam was a man that did some horrible things but he was a product of his surroundings.

Who was your favorite character and why?

the guards

What does Danny Campbell bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The human side of Saddam

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

amazed that Saddam's favorite movie was... read it you will be too..

Facinating

A surprising & intriguing look at the psychology of everyone involved in this unique situation.

I really enjoyed the store. though at times I had wished it had gone into a little more detail overall I loved it and couldn't put it down.

Great book!

Amazon recommended this to me because I just read In Cold Blood and loved it. I was a little hesitant to read it because I'm not that interested in Saddam Hussein but I'm glad I did. This book is more about the psychological toll that guarding Saddam had on the American guards than a historical recounting of the dictator; although, it includes enough of Saddam's history for the reader to appreciate his gruesome rule. The author includes so much detail that you feel like you're in Iraq with the guards while also maintaining swift pacing. I'd definitely recommend it!

A man with a dual nature

The author does a fine job with stitching together the interviews that were conducted with several people close to Saddam Hussein. In particular, the author’s description of the 12 military servicemen (The Super 12) who guarded Saddam after his 2003 capture at his palace are very intriguing. These accounts describe the opposite portrait portrayed by the US media and US government officials of a mad, murderous, western-hating dictator. Although those descriptions were not inaccurate per se, they certainly did not describe the totality of the character of Saddam Hussein. In fact, the Super 12 became so close to Saddam after engaging with him on several friendly topics they discussed, in addition to playing chess, smoking cigars, and exchanging gifts with the former Iraqi president, that after his execution and desecration of of his body, they themselves felt betrayed, hurt, and traumatized by it. This was due mainly to the fact that they had considered Saddam by this time a friend and perhaps even like family. This is a suitable book for anyone looking to learn about the complexity of a man who can embody evil in one minute, but embody compassion the next.

A solid debut from a first-time author

What was it like to guard one of the world's worst dictators when he was on trial for his life? Twelve U.S. Army MPs got to find out after they were assigned to guard Saddam Hussein while he was tried for crimes against the Iraqi people. Early in the book, the author, former Army officer Will Bardenwerper asks, "Is evil who we are, or what we do?" The answer: a little bit of both, as time marches on and we evolve into a person reflected by the sum of our choices. In the case of Saddam, those choices were epically wicked. But in the game of international politics, where evil abounds, we're forced to ask whether or not removing him was worth the cost in American and Iraqi blood. Bardenwerper's answer is unmistakable, never more so than when he recounts the cruel twists of fate that befell many of the men who guarded Saddam once they returned home to civilian life. "Prisoner" is a solid effort that had me looking forward to the author's next book.

Great story!

I couldn't stop listening to this story. I could picture every moment. Very detailed and holds your attention.