The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East

An absolutely terrific book, and anyone who wants to understand the mess in the Middle East should fully absorb it. First-rate scholarship and writing. Do not read the review--read the book.

SC Smith

A remarkable book illustrating the nearly complete ignorance of diplomats from many countries whose prejudices and misunderstandings helped structure the present-day Middle East between 1914 and 1922. Not a new book (original publication 1989, reprint with afterword 2009), but a real eye-opener which explains a lot about current crises in the region.

Great source for historical information specific to old Palestine. I'm an avid reader on the topic of Israel/Palestinian conflict and this book provided me with a lot of history I did not know about and definitely affected the way I view events now.

Now if the author can write another book focused on Lebanon (the way this one seemed to put a lot of focus on Jerusalem), I would be very happy.

I thought Mr. Fromkin did a fantastic job in showing how many of today's problems in the Middle East go back to the victors spoils of WWI. I was however, disappointed in his depth of coverage of the plight of the Armenians and the wrongly surpassed Treaty of Sevres in favor of the Treaty of Lausanne.

Hindsight reveals such folly--that Europeans could divide up the Middle East in such an uninformed, obstinate way. As casual student of history, it was heavy going in parts. Was not happy with author's 10-years on epilog. That said, happy I read it. Highly recommend.

Provides great detail and insight into the how the Great powers of the 19th century shaped the Middle East and the world we continue to live in. Excellent details. Much more than you learned in history class!

Provides great detail and insight into the how the Great powers of the 19th century shaped the Middle East and the world we continue to live in. Excellent details. Much more than you learned in history class!

This is just going to be short and personal. This is the funniest book I've read since Catch 22 and for the same reason. It's informative, comprehensive and beautifully written. If the history is accurately portrayed this book is a classic.

This book expanded my understanding of regional politics throughout the Arab and larger Muslim world, but it WAS a difficult read. I had to power through it (especially the first half) because I did not have an existing framework of knowledge on which to hang new facts and concepts. Instead, I built as I read the book. The skeleton that I built through this book has been instrumental in future readings on the region, adding meat and muscle to my body of knowledge. I highly recommend this book. My only warning is not that it is a hard read; my warning is that, if you struggle with the content, keep reading. It is worth it.

Very interesting and in formative book about the war in the Middle East during WW1, and the poorly arbitrarily divided Middle East that we are left with today. Little if any thought was given to the longstanding tribal allegiances and enmities of the area when these "national" boundaries were made. It explains a lot about the chaos we have there now. In addition some of the chiefs of state were placed arbitrarily also to head the governments of these states with little regard to the will of their subjects. Also of interest is the post war infighting and gradual disintegration of the european allies cooperation. Although of interest and educational value, it is by no means an easy read. One tends to get bogged down with the never ending presentation of the various caliphs and tribal war lords who appear then disappear through out the book. A suggestion would be to list the main actors in the drama in the front of the book for easy reference. I still found it of great interest to those of us trying to understand our current dilemma there to avoid another quagmire like Viet Nam.

Most students of Middle East history probably have this book in their libraries and might even refer to it often. For my money, it's the best compendium available that provides a wide scope and remarkably detailed history of this increasingly important part of the world. It's also very well written.

superbly written, recommend this to anyone wishing to understand why the middle east is what it is today. The british and French totally have screwed up the world with their imperialistic desires from 17-1800's, and as the 1900's unfolded, and ww1 ensued, the brits and French lost everything badly but because of the interests of the americans and an unwillingness of America to lose all of its investments, the brits and French ended up on the winning side, and then carved up the ottoman empire to their own desires, and now what we are all left with is a debacle of misfit territorial disputes that will not cease until the ottomans once again take all of this region under its wing and control all of the diversity of issues as well as they did prior to the involvement of the brits and French

I received the book in excellent condition and by the date expected. It will take me awhile to read it so I can't comment extensively. I like and understand what I've read so far. Documentation is impressive.

Fromkin delivers what he promises; how after the fall of the Ottoman Empire during the Great War, the modern Middle East was basically drawn in the map. He explains how the Englishmen were ignorant in Middle Eastern affairs and how the religious fervor in both continents shaped many of the events recounted in the book. The story has a very clear arch. The formation of the Middle East is a counterpoint to the destruction of the Old European Order after the First World War.

Where the book fails is in its internal dynamic. For some people this book lacks details, for others it has too much. I was annoyed by both, some parts of the book don't have detail at all, others are overwhelming. This makes the reading a bit uneven from chapter to chapter, with a consequential loss of insight. Fromkin claims that Chruchill is the central and structural character that shapes the book. I found that to be a failed enterprise.

On the other hand, the book is a very interesting reading, it demystifies a lot, and the insights at the beginning, and specially at the end are really worthwhile. The thesis is that, if Europe needed 1000 years to shape itself after the fall of the Roman Empire, how many year does the Middle East need?

explains why things are such a mess in the middle east (I think) I couldn't read the whole thing but this is a really good book if you're doing any kind of paper on the middle east as in taking a class in college

This book was mentioned on the Fareed Zakaria GPS cable show as a must read. I have not finished the book yet but it does show the tangled web that results in the current state of affairs in the Middle East.

Very detailed in background leading up to WW1. Learned a lot about The Ottoman Empire and major powers around the world leading up to the war and how little they understood the Middle East.
It seems history repeats itself and we still don't understand it in today's world.

I liked the apparent detached view taken by the author.
I wish the Bush/Cheney advisors had read this book to understand Iraq.
The run up to the Balfour Declaration was a real eye opener as was the Arab intransigence to Churchill's efforts to resolve the Palestine situation.

A classic of modern history writing and research. Anyone who wants to understand the Middle East should read this book to understands its political origins (driven by Western ignorance and greed) and the roots of mistakes still being made today.

Although written over 20 years ago, this book is still the best explanation of how the Middle East was formed. Having an absorbing narrative of diplomatic double dealing that made the world what it is, it is a must read for any person interested in the problems that confront us today

This is a terrific book; extremely well written and extraordinarily detailed. Provided me with new perspectives on a part of the war I rarely considered. There are many lessons here for modern leaders. The most important lesson might be don't go where your not wanted by the majority even if you bring an army with you.

Very thorough and detailed read regarding the mucking up of the middle east by the early 20th century progressive movement. If you are wanting a short dumbed-down synopsis of the formation of all the trouble in the current middle east, this book is not for you. If you want a detailed and intelligent essay, you will enjoy the book.

We are certainly witnessing a middle eastern modern day holocaust in the making by today's version of the progressive movement derailing any hope we have of peace in that volatile portion of the world. Yeah I know, it's all george bush's fault. Save me.

A very detailed account of the people with their various political positions in the major powers of the day. The author gets a little bogged down the various positions by the players in the first half of the book. The second half was particularly fascinating to me. Overall quite an informative read

This excellent book educates readers about the division of the Ottoman Empire after World War I by Great Britain and France and the creation of a system of mandates through which Britain and France ruled parts of the old Ottoman Empire until after World War II. Fromkin also writes about Russian actions in the Middle East, Zionist efforts to settle Jews in Palestine, and the ill-fated 1921-22 Greek invasion of Turkey. Unfortunately, he devotes only four pages (out of 567) to educating readers about the Turkish massacres of 1.5 million Armenian Christians from 1915 to 1923, as if to announce that these 1.5 million human victims were not particularly important. Despite this oversight, Fromkin's book includes an immense amount of valuable information that helps readers understand the political policies that shaped the Middle East in the first half of the 20th century and beyond. I highly recommend reading this book if you want to understand the modern Middle East.

An essential book for understanding the Middle East crisis we struggle with today. More, perhaps, than most people want, or need, to know about the events surrounding the creation of today's problems.

Very in-depth. Well researched. It does get to be somewhat tedious at times due to all of the various names, places, dates and machinations that seem to be overlapping at once. It does provide a good explanation of how the Middle East evolved to the present and the events, people (and their thinking) that led us to today's conflicts, alliances and adversaries.

This is one of my all-time favourite historical works, and I've read a lot of them. David Fromkin tells the story of how the colonial re-adjustments made by England and France during World War I in anticipation of the demise of the Ottoman Empire were ultimately responsible for the continuing mess that is the modern Middle East. It is a story that has been told many times, but seldom with such eloquence and rarely with such a sure eye for the telling detail. Mr. Fromkin has the gift of explication and the ability to really see the big picture. From the fateful voyage of the German warships Goeben and Breslau to the violent death of Enver Pasha in the wilds of Central Asia, and from the fictions of TE Lawrence to the cynical accomodations of Sykes and Picot, the reader is conducted expertly through an incredible but factual story whose ending has yet to be determined. As he shows in other books such as "In the Time of the Americans," Fromkin is a stern critic of the old colonial powers, and some readers may find his account of French and British politics and policies to be a little one-sided, but what really good book isn't? An amazing work of history - six stars!