CONTESTED LANDS: A History of the Middle East

A detailed and insightful picture of a troubled region and why its heritage remains important today. Until WWI, the Ottoman Empire had dominated the Middle East for four centuries. Its collapse, coupled with the subsequent clash of European imperial policies, unleashed a surge in political feeling among the people as they vied for national self-determination. Over the century that followed, the region has become almost synonymous with conflict and unrest, but why? In this accessible survey of the last century, T. G. Fraser analyses the fault lines of the tension - the damaging legacies of imperialism, the creation of the State of Israel, the competition between secular, autocratic rulers and emerging democratic and theocratic forces, and the rise and fall of Arab Nationalism in the face of fraying regional alliances and the Islamic revival. Against this backdrop comes the 21st century, marked first by the tragedy of 9/11, then the Arab Spring, and now Syria's civil war and much more recent events, amidst all of this, a complex social and economic change has transformed the region. Fraser untangles the threads of history in the Middle East so we can better understand this complex situation and diplomatic developments that continue to shape the Middle East and the world. An incisive and thoughtful guide and an engaging historical study. 246pp, illus.