A History of the Middle East - Peter Mansfield

This book

Synopsis
Reviews
Product details

About Peter Mansfield

A History of the Middle East

New Edition

» Peter Mansfield

Penguin
Paperback : 07 Aug 2003

£12.99

» Buy now

'A brilliantly deft and well-informed guide ... coherent, dispassionate and remarkably inclusive'
The Times Educational Supplement

Synopsis

Over the centuries the Middle East has confounded the dreams of conquerors and peacemakers alike. In this profound book, Peter Mansfield follows the historic struggles of the region over the last two hundred years, from Napoleon’s assault on Egypt, through the slow decline and fall of the Ottoman Empire, to the painful emergence of modern nations, the Palestinian question and Islamic resurgence. The Middle East’s huge oil reserves gave it global economic importance as well as unique strategic value, and the result was massive superpower involvement.

For this new edition, Nicolas Pelham has written two extensive new chapters examining recent developments throughout the Middle East since the Gulf War, including the turbulent events in Afghanistan, the troubled relationship between the US and Iraq, the continuing Arab-Israeli war and the rise of Islamic Jihad.

Incisive and illuminating, A History of the Middle East is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand what is perhaps the most crucial and volatile nerve centre of the world, and its prospects for the future.