Eugene Rogan has written an authoritative new history of the Arabs in the modern world. Starting with the Ottoman conquests in the sixteenth century, this landmark book follows the story of the Arabs through the era of European imperialism and the Superpower rivalries of the Cold War, to the present age of unipolar American power. Drawing on the writings and eyewitness accounts of those who lived through the tumultuous years of Arab history, The Arabs balances different voices - politicians, intellectuals, students, men and women, poets and novelists, famous, infamous and the completely unknown - to give a rich, complex sense of life over nearly five centuries.
Rogan's book is remarkable for its geographical sweep, covering the Arab world from North Africa through the Arabian Peninsula, and for the depth in which it explores every facet of modern Arab history. Charting the evolution of Arab identity from Ottomanism to Arabism to Islamism, it covers themes including the conflict between national independence and foreign domination, the Arab-Israeli struggle and the peace process, Abdel Nasser and the rise of Arab Nationalism, the political and economic power of oil and the conflict between secular and Islamic values.
This multilayered, fascinating and definitive work is the essential guide to understanding the history of the modern Arab world - and its future.
Chapter 1. From Cairo to Istanbul
Chapter 2. The Arab Challenge to Ottoman Rule
Chapter 3. The Egyptian Empire of Muhammad ’Ali
Chapter 4. The Perils of Reform
Chapter 5. The First Wave of Colonialism: North Africa
Chapter 6. Divide and Rule: World War I and the Postwar Settlement
Chapter 7. The British Empire in the Middle East
Chapter 8. The French Empire in the Middle East
Chapter 9. The Palestine Disaster and Its Consequences
Chapter 10. The Rise of Arab Nationalism
Chapter 11. The Decline of Arab Nationalism
Chapter 13. The Power of Islam
Chapter 14. After the Cold War