Saddam Hussein transformed Iraq from a fractured, coup-prone state into the most feared military power in the Middle East — and then destroyed it all through the same paranoia and brutality that had built it. He gassed the Kurds, invaded Kuwait, started two catastrophic wars, and was pulled from a spider hole by American soldiers in 2003. The orphan who clawed his way to absolute power died on a gallows.

This episode traces Saddam from his abusive village childhood through the Ba'ath Party rise, the modernization campaigns, the Iran-Iraq War, the Gulf Wars, and the capture and execution that ended his rule.

• Saddam's violent childhood and the uncle's influence that shaped his ruthless political education
• The Ba'ath Party coup, the modernization programs, and the oil wealth that funded both
• The Iran-Iraq War, the ga ...