The Cauldron (the Making Of The Modern Middle East)

By (author) Montefiore Simon Sebag
Short description/annotation:
A history of the Middle East - from Morocco, Yemen and Iran to Sudan, Israel and Turkey - since 1900, from the no.1 bestselling author of JERUSALEM
Description:

''An essential read'' HUSSEIN AGHA, Palestinian negotiator with Israel over half a century
''A must-have guide'' EUGENE ROGAN, author of The Arabs
''Captivating and monumental'' EHUD OLMERT, former Prime Minister of Israel
''Masterful . . . history at its best'' GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS, former Director of the CIA

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE MAKING OF TODAY''S MIDDLE EAST: A SPELLBINDING HISTORY FROM THE BESTSELLING, PRIZEWINNING HISTORIAN AND MASTER STORYTELLER

How did an elderly cleric overthrow the Shah of Iran and change the world?
Why did Bin Laden attack the USA - and why did the USA destroy Saddam?
How did one extraordinary prince create Saudi Arabia? How did an Ottoman general create Türkiye?
How did Britain and France carve up the Middle East - and why did the Kurds never get their own state?
Can there ever be peace between Israel and Palestine?

The Middle East has forever been the source of religions, prize of empires, spark-wheel of conflicts, well of radicalism and epicentre of our tumultuous world. No other region has such a hold on our imagination nor such a propensity to unleash mayhem. Yet few know its real history; fewer still understand its variety and cosmopolitanism, its complexity and interconnectedness. In The Cauldron, Simon Sebag Montefiore delivers a fresh and unique history of the entire region in all its diversity, from 1900 up to the present day. Taking the reader on a spectacular journey from the Ottoman sultanate to the Trump presidency, from Morocco to Iran, this is a dazzling panorama of faith and fanaticism, creativity and tolerance, dictatorship and democracy brought to life by an extraordinary cast of kings, warriors, poets, terrorists and peacemakers.

This is the essential story of how the Middle East of 1900 became the Middle East of today - and tomorrow.

Review quote:
The Cauldron chronicles the complex history of the modern Middle East in a way that is accessible and enjoyable to read for a contemporary audience. This is no small feat: spanning Morocco to Iraq, it navigates the tangle of names, dates and events seamlessly so that the reader is not swamped by a narrative overflow of unfamiliar terms. A fascinating, stimulating and balanced history of the modern Middle East
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A fascinating and compelling history of the modern Middle East from the borders of Hindustan to the shores of the Atlantic. Having been involved in Palestinian politics and negotiations with Israelis since the Seventies, I enjoyed reading this history of a region riddled by conflict and striving for a way through, written in the most lucid of styles: unique, refreshing, nuanced and balanced. It is an essential read
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A chronicle of the past century and a quarter that turned the Middle East and North Africa into the most conflict-ridden region in the world, delivered with verve, an eye for detail and balance. A must-have guide for all who seek a better understanding of the Arab world, Iran, Israel and Turkey today
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Masterful. In The Cauldron, Montefiore brings extraordinary narrative power and scholarly depth to the making of the modern Middle East, tracing the region''s turbulent evolution from empire to ideology, and from revolution to war. Ranging from Morocco to Iran, and from 1900 to the present, this is history at its best - richly told, unsentimental, and essential for understanding the forces that continue to shape one of the world''s most consequential regions
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