The definitive history of the Middle East that provides the historical context to today's headlines - now in its fifth edition

"The best overall survey of the politics, regional rivalries and economics of the contemporary Arab World." -The Washington Post

One of the most crucial, volatile, and complex regions of the modern world, the Middle East has long confounded the dreams of conquerors and peacemakers alike. This now-classic book, and still the essential work on the subject, follows the historic struggles of the Middle East from Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt and Syria, through the slow decline and fall of the Ottoman Empire, to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the history of Islam and its recent resurgence.

For this new fifth edition (2019), Economist journalist and Middle Eastcorrespondent Nicolas Pelham has written extensive new material examining recent developments throughout the Middle East, including the aftermaths of the 'Arab Spring', the situation in Iran, thecontinuing Arab-Israeli conflict and the unfolding disasters of theSyrian and Yemeni civil war.