"No war is ever like you expect it to be," he told us. "I think people at home were amazed to see people broadcasting live from battles.

"From our point of view, it was a very sobering war: 15 journalists died. "

For Keane, the most memorable moment of his war experiences in Iraq was being taken to one of Saddam Hussein's prisons. He was shown the yard where prisoners were executed - including the British Observer journalist Farzad Bazoft.

"The ropes were still there in the courtyard," he told us. "One former political prisoner had tears rolling down his cheeks. He said - why did this happen?"

click here to watch our interview with Fergal Keane

The book is called The Battle for Iraq: BBC News Correspondents on the War against Saddam and a New World Agenda.

Other contributors include Bridget Kendall, Allan Little and Rageh Omaar who reported from Baghdad for the BBC throughout the war.

There are also accounts from BBC journalists who were embedded with US and British troops whose stories provide a snapshot of covering a war from the front line.

Fergal has written the first chapter "From 9/11 to the Iraqi Border" which looks at how the events of 11 September informed US foreign policy.

It centres on the hawks in the Bush administration and focuses on the moment when an attack on Iraq became inevitable.

Biography

Fergal Keane is a BBC world affairs correspondent who has covered many conflicts including both Gulf Wars.

He was formerly Northern Ireland, Southern Africa and Asia correspondent.

He closely followed developments in the Iraq crisis and reported from Baghdad and Saddam's birthplace, Tikrit.

Price �7.99, ISBN 0563 487 879, Published 12 June