History > Middle East

'Not long ago, in a small rubber boat more suited to a beach than the Nile, I floated downstream for ten kilometres, from my suburb to the city centre. I passed an island where, according to legend, Moses was left in his basket; a few kilometres farther downstream was the spot where Joseph and Mary landed after their flight t... read more

September 1997. In an Amman street, five men purporting to be Canadian tourists accost a Palestinian and inject a mysterious chemical into his ear. Within 48 hours it should kill him and leave no trace. The assailants were Mossad agents; their target was Khalid Mishal, head of Hamas's political bureau in Jordan. But, after 48... read more

Now fully updated to cover the Arab Spring, 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 Wa... read more

For centuries following the fall of Rome, Western Europe was backward and benighted, locked into the Dark Ages and barely able to tell the time of day. Augustine had decreed that belief not reason should be the guiding light of Christian thinking, and partially as a result its people lived in a world of nominal literacy and s... read more

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James Carroll tells the richly layered story of the city of Jerusalem and its extraordinary impact on human history and contemporary conflict. He shows how the seemingly never-ending conflicts within this city that is holy to Muslims, Christians, and Jews underscore an important point of history: religion and violence fuel ea... read more

Throughout World War II, Lisbon was at the centre of world attention. The only European city in which both the Allies and the Axis powers openly operated, it was also a temporary home to much of Europe's exiled royalty; over one million refugees seeking passage to America; and a host of spies, secret police, captains of indus... read more

In this brilliant exploration of the post-9/11 world, leading Lebanese novelist and intellectual Amin Maalouf sets out to understand how we have arrived at such disorder. He explores three different but related aspects of disorder: intellectual (manifested in an unleashing of statements on identity that allow no possibility o... read more

The relationship between Jews and Muslims has been a flashpoint that affects stability in the Middle East and has consequences around the globe. This book challenges the standard media portrayal and presents an account of hope, opportunity, fear, and terror that have characterized these two people through the 1,400 years of their history.

"The power of the people is stronger than the people in power." Social media allow ideas to be shared. They are places where people can unite, Revolutions can begin. A new type of Revolution -- Revolution 2.0 Wael Ghonim used to be a man unwilling to publicly criticise the Egyptian regime. Like many, he was silenced by the fe... read more

Jerusalem is the universal city, the capital of two peoples, the shrine of three faiths; it is the prize of empires, the site of Judgement Day and the battlefield of today's clash of civilizations. From King David to Barack Obama, from the birth of Judaism, Christianity and Islam to the Israel-Palestine conflict, this is the ... read more

With nuclear aspirations, an Islamic theocracy, oil riches, and a leadership given to inflammatory rhetoric, Iran is the bogeyman of global politics. This book presents an account of a vast conflict being fought under the public's radar. It provides insight into the power struggle at the heart of the Middle East.

The acclaimed author of "Rubicon" and other superb works of popular history now produces a thrillingly panoramic (and incredibly timely) account of the rise of Islam. No less significant than the collapse of the Roman Republic or the Persian invasion of Greece, the evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narrative... read more

In the political unrest that has swept across the Arab region in 2011, all eyes have been on the streets and squares erupting in protest. But for the past four years, Shereen El Feki has been looking at upheaval a little closer to home - in the sexual lives of men and women across the Arab world. The result is Sex and the Cit... read more

Geza Vermes, the author of "The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls" and acknowledged expert on the life and times of Jesus, tells the enthralling story of early Christianity and the origins of a religion. The creation of the Christian Church is one of the most important stories in the development of the world's history, but also one o... read more

Tracing today's troubles back to the imperial overreach of Great Britain and the United States, "Kingmakers" is the story of how the Middle East came to be, told through the lives of the Britons and Americans who shaped it. Some are famous (Lawrence of Arabia and Gertrude Bell); others infamous (Harry St John Philby, father o... read more

Jeremy Bowen has been the BBC's Middle East correspondent for twelve years and has been on the ground for them as the recent revolutions have swept through the region. Realising this as a game-changing moment in the history of the Middle East, The Arab Uprisings captures the thoughts and feelings of the people involved as the... read more

In the spring of 1839, the British invaded Afghanistan for the first time. Led by lancers in scarlet cloaks and plumed shakos, nearly 20,000 British and East India Company troops poured through the high mountain passes and re-established on the throne Shah Shuja ul-Mulk. On the way in, the British faced little resistance.... read more