The territory of modern Iraq is roughly equivalent to that of ancient Mesopotamia, which fostered a succession of early civilizations, such as Sumer, Babylonia and Assyria. Later invasions by Alexander the Great and the Persians also left their mark. The Arab-Islamic conquest of what is now Iraq started in 633 and from the mid-8th century to 1258 Baghdad was the capital of the Islamic realm. The Abbasid period was a golden age of Islamic power and culture. During that period Baghdad became the second largest city in the known world, after Constantinople, and the most important center of science and culture. Iraqi architecture is best exemplified in the sprawling metropolis of Baghdad. The city's architecture is almost entirely new, with some islands of exquisite old buildings and compounds. Despite all the political developments in the last decade, most of the archaeological and historical sites have been very well preserved. For various reasons, organizing a tour of Iraq is quite difficult to say the least. Iraq is an area for lovers of history, culture and art, and for those who are daring enough to experience a nation under pressure. It is a tour for the well traveled. In Spring of 2001, Bestway Tours & Safaris was the first tour operator to take a group of American and Canadian tourists to Iraq. Our participants were surprisingly well received and have come back extremely pleased with the trip. As always the people are very different from their rulers and their regimes.