The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East - Hardcover

Rogan, Eugene

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 046502307X ISBN 13: 9780465023073

Publisher: Basic Books, 2015

Synopsis

In 1914 the Ottoman Empire was depleted of men and resources after years of war against Balkan nationalist and Italian forces. But in the aftermath of the assassination in Sarajevo, the powers of Europe were sliding inexorably toward war, and not even the Middle East could escape the vast and enduring consequences of one of the most destructive conflicts in human history. The Great War spelled the end of the Ottomans, unleashing powerful forces that would forever change the face of the Middle East.In The Fall of the Ottomans , award-winning historian Eugene Rogan brings the First World War and its immediate aftermath in the Middle East to vivid life, uncovering the often ignored story of the region's crucial role in the conflict. Bolstered by German money, arms, and military advisors, the Ottomans took on the Russian, British, and French forces, and tried to provoke Jihad against the Allies in their Muslim colonies. Unlike the static killing fields of the Western Front, the war in the Middle East was fast-moving and unpredictable, with the Turks inflicting decisive defeats on the Entente in Gallipoli, Mesopotamia, and Gaza before the tide of battle turned in the Allies' favour. The great cities of Baghdad, Jerusalem, and, finally, Damascus fell to invading armies before the Ottomans agreed to an armistice in 1918.The postwar settlement led to the partition of Ottoman lands between the victorious powers, and laid the groundwork for the ongoing conflicts that continue to plague the modern Arab world. A sweeping narrative of battles and political intrigue from Gallipoli to Arabia, The Fall of the Ottomans is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the Great War and the making of the modern Middle East.

About this title

Review:

"[An] assured account.... The book stands alongside the best histories."--Economist

"The book is not only exact and readable but also has the elements of a thriller and thus is all the more remarkable in view of its thoroughness in covering a linguistically and historically difficult subject."--Wall Street Journal

"This engrossing history unfolds in the Middle Eastern theatre of the First World War, capturing the complex array of battles, brutalities, and alliances that brought down the six-hundred-year-old Ottoman Empire.... Rogan argues that the empire's ultimate demise was the result not of losing the war but of a clumsily negotiated peace. His balanced narrative unearths many seeds of current conflicts."--New Yorker

"Admirable and thoroughly researched.... A comprehensive history of World War I in the Middle East."--New York Review of Books

"[An] intricately worked but very readable account of the Ottoman theocracy's demise.... This is an extraordinary tale and Rogan recounts it well."--New York Times

"A remarkably readable, judicious and well-researched account of the Ottoman war in Anatolia and the Arab provinces."--Mark Mazower, Financial Times

"Rogan has written an impressively sound and fair-minded account of the fall of the Ottoman Empire."--Max Hastings, Sunday Times (UK)

"To have written a page-turner as well as an accurate and comprehensive history of the Ottoman struggle for survival is a remarkable achievement."--Wall Street Journal

"As the Middle East is collapsing all around us, if you wanted to know where it all began and when, read this great book by a great Oxford historian."--Fareed Zakaria, Fareed Zakaria GPS, Book of the Week

"[Rogan's] account is geopolitical and military writing at its best - taut, anecdotal and extraordinarily researched. A tangled story, to be sure, one that both commands and rewards the reader's attention."--Washington Times

Book Description:

From a critically-acclaimed historian and renowned expert on Arab history, a ground-breaking survey of the Middle East's role in World War One-a conflict that both hinged on and reshaped the region.

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 046502307X
• ISBN 13: 9780465023073
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 512