In the poem's imagery, the end of naïve childhood for the conquered is also the weary end of naïve childhood for the conqueror.
In mid-May, Noura posted a long passage praising Saddam Hussein, followed by this sentence: "How many 'likes' for the conqueror of the Shia and other heathens?" Aliaa showed me the Facebook page of Noura's teenage brother Kamal, with an image of him clutching a Kalashnikov.
Marshall wrote: [I]t is very unusual, even in cases of conquest, for the conqueror to do more than to displace the sovereign and assume dominion over the country.
Her meticulous nature was also evident in her historical novels; Heyer even recreated William the Conqueror's crossing into England for her novel The Conqueror.
Not only was it the site of the D-Day invasion but, going the other way, it was the launch pad for William the Conqueror for his invasion of England in 1066.
The descriptions of brutality are shocking, as is the clarity with which many of the men, in a moment of national triumph, saw how their victory had laid the seeds of future violence and misery for the conquerors as well as for the vanquished.
Even the partial or total conquests of China for considerable periods by non-Han Chinese ethnic groups from outside the Great Wall failed to disrupt this continuity, for the conquerors were forced to adopt the written Chinese language as their official medium of communication because they had none of their own.
In recent interviews here, most Iraqis, like Mr. Shimari, say they have given little or no thought to the looming anniversary, which falls on Wednesday, though the sight of foreign television news crews conducting stand-ups in the city this week will remind them that the war, for the conquerors anyway, is something to be reflected upon.
Set during the Franco-Prussian war, the story's first few pages vividly depict a country being overrun, with "fat and flabby businessmen waiting anxiously for the conquerors to come", and the bodies of German soldiers being dragged from rivers, victims of "secret acts of vengeance".
"What's good enough for William the Conqueror is good enough for us!" Sark's establishment had long maintained.
The Tower complex, which includes the Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, where the Crown Jewels and royal armor are displayed, was built for William the Conqueror in 1066 and 1067, and enlarged and modified by his successors.
