Description

---

The internationally bestselling definitive history of the Arab world, named a best book of the year by the Financial Times, the Economist, and the Atlantic -- now updated to cover the latest developments in the Middle East

In this groundbreaking and comprehensive account of the Middle East, award-winning historian Eugene Rogan draws extensively on five centuries of Arab sources to place the Arab experience in its crucial historical context. This landmark book covers the Arab world from North Africa through the Arabian Peninsula, exploring every facet of modern Arab history. Starting with the Ottoman conquests of the sixteenth century, Rogan 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 American hegemony, charting the evolution of Arab identity and the struggles for national sovereignty throughout.

In this updated edition, Rogan untangles the latest geopolitical developments of the region. The Arabs is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the modern Arab world.

About the Author

---

Eugene Rogan is professor of modern Middle Eastern history at the University of Oxford and the director of the Middle East Centre at St. Antony's College, Oxford. The author of numerous books, including the international bestseller The Fall of the Ottomans, Rogan is the recipient of the Albert Hourani Prize. He lives in Oxford, England.

Praise For…

---

"A
fascinating [story], and exceedingly well told.... What makes this book particularly
useful is the way it situates [the Arab-Israeli conflict] within the wider
context of the Arabs' long, and still unsuccessful, struggle to come to more
equal terms with the West.... An exemplary history."—Economist

"An
outstanding, gripping and exuberant narrative, full of flamboyant character
sketches, witty asides and magisterial scholarship, that explains much of what
we need to know about the world today."—Simon Sebag Montefiore, Financial Times

"An
entertaining, gracefully written, and eye-opening look at a diverse people
whose history, culture and character are often badly misunderstood (if not
actively distorted) here in the United States. Read it. You'll learn a lot."—Stephen M. Walt, ForeignPolicy.com

"[Rogan]
provides a prism through which the lay Westerner can view five centuries of
tumult, zealotry, and complication.... Deeply erudite and distinctly humane,
Rogan consistently plays up (and never papers over) the bountiful East-West
parallels."—Atlantic

"Readable
and reliable, this sweeping survey balances the unity of a coherent story with
due attention to detail. As such, Rogan's contribution belongs in the company
of the earlier classics by Hitti and Hourani."—Foreign Affairs

"Rogan manages the somewhat staggering feat of outlining nearly 500 years of history in a way that is neither cursory nor overwhelming--and is based in the experiences of the people themselves.... [Rogan's] ability to gather and synthesize such a wealth of information, showing both the humanity and malice present on all sides, while neither bowing to nor accepting conventional wisdom, is truly remarkable. It's to be hoped that America's decision makers get their hands on a copy of The Arabs--and take very good notes."—Dallas Morning News

"A
straightforward, careful primer on Arab political history from the rise of the
Ottoman Empire to the forging of modern fundamentalist Islamic entities.... A
sweeping history."—Kirkus Reviews

"An
excellent book.... Eugene Rogan has written an authoritative and wide-ranging
history."—Times LiterarySupplement

"There
can be few books better than this one to put in context the ongoing protests
throughout the Middle East."—Guardian (UK)

"An eloquent grand narrative of optimism and despair.... Rogan's book is evocative, timely and illuminating for the general reader. The individual Arab voices that he uses to structure the narrative--ordinary people, intellectuals, activists and political leaders--provide a much needed insider perspective, which nuances stereotypical images of the Arab world in the media. Moreover, The Arabs discloses unfamiliar and unsettling truths on the vexed and often over-simplified relationship between the Arab world and its historical 'others,' Europe, the west and Israel. Compelling as it is in its own right, this is indeed food for thought also for its relevance to world affairs at large."—BBC History Magazine

"Eugene
Rogan writes about the Middle East with exceptional empathy, wisdom, and
insight. His book is a landmark in scholarship on this complex and
controversial region. Western scholars have written extensively about the
Middle East but mostly from the outside looking in. The Arabs often feature in
their accounts as mere driftwood on the sea of international affairs. Rogan, by
contrast, has narrated the history of the region over the last five centuries
from the inside looking out. He tells the history of the Arabs from their own
perspective, using an impressive range of Arabic sources. It is a fascinating
story and in Eugene Rogan it has found its most gifted chronicler."—Avi Shlaim, author of The IronWall: Israel and the Arab World

"A
masterful, thorough, and well-written survey of the entire sweep of modern Arab
history. Full of lively vignettes but comprehensive at the same time, this book
will be of great interest both to general readers and students of the Arab
world."—Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies, Columbia University

"This
history focuses on the last 100 years of Arab politics, offering the perfect
primer for anyone following the news right now."—Daily Telegraph (UK)

"Anyone who seeks to understand why the Islamic world bears a grudge against the West should read The Arabs. Few scholars know their subject better than Eugene Rogan, while even fewer are capable of rendering so complex a subject so engagingly readable. It is a joy to open, and a deprivation to put down."—Sir Alistair Horne, authorof A Savage War of Peace

"No
better guide to the modern history of the Arab world could be found than Eugene
Rogan. He is attentive as much to the insider accounts in Arab memoirs as to
the imperial schemes hatched in drawing rooms in Paris and London, as concerned
with popular movements and uprisings as with elite reformism, and unafraid to
confront directly and with the best evidence and documentation available the
vexed issues of colonialism, Orientalism, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Rogan
achieves a rare, and realistic synoptic vision of the way in which Arabness has
been shaped by both indigenous forces and Western imperial ones. In recent
years, the United States has attempted to rule Arabs while carefully avoiding
knowing anything about them, a strategy that has yielded all too predictable
results. Those in the West who aspire to engage the Arab world in more
productive ways in the future will find Rogan an indispensable companion."—Juan Cole, Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History, University of Michigan, and author of Engagingthe Muslim World

"Eugene
Rogan writes about the Middle East with exceptional empathy, wisdom, and
insight. His book is a landmark in scholarship on this complex and
controversial region. Western scholars have written extensively about the
Middle East but mostly from the outside looking in. The Arabs often feature in
their accounts as mere driftwood on the sea of international affairs. Rogan, by
contrast, has narrated the history of the region over the last five centuries
from the inside looking out. He tells the history of the Arabs from their own
perspective, using an impressive range of Arabic sources. It is a fascinating
story and in Eugene Rogan it has found its most gifted chronicler."—Avi Shlaim, author of The IronWall: Israel and the Arab World

"Anyone who seeks to understand why the Islamic world bears a grudge against the West should read The Arabs. Few scholars know their subject better than Eugene Rogan, while even fewer are capable of rendering so complex a subject so engagingly readable. It is a joy to open, and a deprivation to put down."—Sir Alistair Horne, author of A SavageWar of Peace

"With eloquence, verve, and understanding, Eugene Rogan rightly reminds us that the world, and the Arabs themselves, need to remember the past. If we are to build a better relationship between the Arab world and the West, if we are to avoid making the same mistakes again and again, we need to know Arab history from its many high points to its low ones. I can think of no better guide on this crucially important journey than The Arabs."—Margaret MacMillan, author of Paris1919 and Nixon and Mao