Publishing houses vie to win the peace.

(From FT Investor (Stories))

With rebuilding efforts under way in Iraq, US and UK book publishers are quickly ramping up their own post-war operations.

In the past few weeks, Random House, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster have all signed deals for non-fiction books related to the recent invasion and its aftermath.

Matthew McAllester, the Newsday correspondent the Iraqi government jailed as a suspected spy, will reportedly receive a six-figure advance from News Corp's HarperCollins to write Blinded by the Sunlight: Emerging from the Prison of Iraq.

Peter Stothard, The Times Literary Supplement editor who shadowed Tony Blair through the war, will give Harper UK the inside account of the prime minister's role. Richard Perle and David Frum, both advisers to George W. Bush, discuss the future of the war on terrorism in a book from Random House.

Simon & Schuster's offering is a collection of war letters that will include correspondence to and from soldiers involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

None of the large publishers expects war-related books to make - or break - their fiscal years. But they are keenly aware that popular, topical titles can generate significant profits.