A History of the Modern Middle East: Rulers, Rebels, and Rogues

by Betty Anderson

A History of the Modern Middle East offers a comprehensive assessment of the region, stretching from the fourteenth century and the founding of the Ottoman and Safavid empires through to the present-day protests and upheavals. The textbook focuses on Turkey, Iran, and the Arab countries of the Middle East, as well as areas often left out of Middle East history―such as the Balkans and the changing roles that Western forces have played in the region for centuries―to discuss the larger contexts and influences on the region's cultural and political development. Enriched by the perspectives of workers and professionals; urban merchants and provincial notables; slaves, students, women, and peasants, as well as political leaders, the book maps the complex social interrelationships and provides a pivotal understanding of the shifting shapes of governance and trajectories of social change in the Middle East. Extensively illustrated with drawings, photographs, and maps, this text skillfully integrates a diverse range of actors and influences to construct a narrative that is at once sophisticated and lucid. A History of the Modern Middle East highlights the region's complexity and variation, countering easy assumptions about the Middle East, those who governed, and those they governed―the rulers, rebels, and rogues who shaped a region.

Genres: Middle East, History, Nonfiction

544 pages, Paperback

Published April 20, 2016

Reviews

[Marian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Et imponerende verk! Denne er ikke lest på en helg, men du verden for en rik kilde til læring. Boka får frem linjene fra det osmanske riket og det iranske Qajar-dynastiet, den undersøker Midtøsten fra 1700-tallet til vår egen tid. Prologen har også med fremveksten av islam og det arabiske imperium. Etter å ha lest boka ser jeg hvorfor den går så grundig til verks hva gjelder reformer og opprør fra 1800-tallet, det er her grunnlaget legges for flere av de konflikter og allianser vi fortsatt ser. Personlig er jeg er særlig interessert i historien fra 1. verdenskrig hvor kartet i Midtøsten ble tegnet opp med følger vi stadig ser konsekvensene av. Jeg vil særlig trekke frem den siste delen av boka som god - med titler som "Military Coups", "Cold War Battles", "Rulers for life" og Upheaval", det siste med fokus på islamisme, innovasjon og opprør. Anbefales for alle som vil dypere inn i forståelsen av de historiske årsakene til dagens situasjon i Midtøsten.

[isabelle ‘izzy’ kratz:)]

I read this for my history of the Middle East class, and it was very informative, as I had zero previous knowledge going into the class, except a lecture I attended about Settler Colonialism by Zionists in Palestine, which I heard again this year.

Did I kind of drift off a couple times while reading the book?
Yes, that’s par for the course with history books.

I was glad to be enlightened about what exactly went down with Palestine and Israel, how the U.S. has been involved in too many things in the Middle East since 1948, and what the cultural and political trends and socio-economic patterns and woes in the region are.

[umang · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A dense read that attempts a nearly impossible task with exhaustive level to detail. I don't think any organizational system or ordering would be any better though this was hard to follow at times when it jumped around.

I really enjoyed the supplementary texts used in the class that were drawn from a different book (title?). It used more primary sources with good contextualizing by the author and was more readable.