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Saddam, frustrated step-son of a sadistic peasant, was the deputy of the Iraqi president, number two in a revolutionary regime that modernized the former British-protected kingdom. When his faction of the ruling Baath Party opposes the president's plan for a union with neighbor Syria, Saddam is able to seize power.

1988. Though Iraq is on the brink of bankruptcy, Baghdad is jubilant in victory after the war with Iran. Uday celebrates in a nightclub by getting drunk and firing a gun into the crowd. As Kuwait's upsurge in oil output challenges Iraqi prosperity, a family lunch reveals fractures in Saddam's household.

May 1995. Iraq is crippled by UN sanctions for refusing to comply with weapons inspections. When inspectors are finally admitted, a cat-and-mouse game begins. In charge of the subterfuge is Qusay, Saddam's new successor--a move that infuriates Hussein Kamal.

March 2003. As Bush declares 'the day of liberation is near,' Saddam instructs most of his family to flee to Syria; only Uday, Qusay and grandson Mustapha remain. For his safety, Saddam goes into hiding near Tikrit, off the banks of the Tigris River where he lived as a child.