
Empire of Sand
How Britain Made the Middle East
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Narrated by:
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Derek Perkins
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By:
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Walter Reid
At the end of the First World War, Britain, and to a much lesser extent France, created the modern Middle East. The possessions of the former Ottoman Empire were carved up with scant regard for the wishes of those who lived there. From the outset, the project was destined to fail.
Conflicting and ambiguous promises had been made to the Arabs during the war but were not honored. Brief hopes for Arab unity were dashed, and a harsh belief in western perfidy persists to the present day. Britain was quick to see the riches promised by the black pools of oil that lay on the ground around Baghdad. When France, too, grasped their importance, bitter differences opened up and the area became the focus of a return to traditional enmity. The wartime allies came close to blows and then drifted apart, leaving a vacuum of which Hitler took advantage.
Working from both primary and secondary sources, Walter Reid explores Britain's role in the creation of the modern Middle East and the rise of Zionism from the early years of the twentieth century to 1948, when Britain handed over Palestine to United Nations' control. From the decisions that Britain made has flowed much of the instability of the region and of the worldwide tensions that threaten the twenty-first century; this thought-provoking book considers how much Britain was to blame.
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The narration is solid, and while it’s not light listening, it rewards your attention.
Overall, it added layers to my understanding of the Middle East—past and present.
It's a must read.
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Very detailed.
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The book is very well written, in such detail and never boring.
I was aware of much of the history of the Middle East, but it is fascinating to listen to it again in such a chronological manner.
You will not regret it.
The narrator, mr. Derek Perkins, as usual is a pleasure to listen to.
My thanks to all involved, JK.
A MUST READ
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