Introduction Part One Imperial Sunset 1. Riding the Napoleonic Storms 2. The Greek Tinderbox 3. Muhammad Ali's Imperial Dream 4. Losing Egypt 5. Out of Europe 6. The Young Turks in Power Part Two Demise of the "Sick Man" 7. The Ottoman Road to War 8. The Entente's Road to War 9. The Lust for Glory 10. Genocide in Armenia 11. Repression in the Holy Land 12. Istanbul and the Arabs 13. The "Great Arab Revolt" 14. Hussein's Imperial Bid 15. Dividing the Bear's Skin Part Three: Unite and Rule 16. The Balfour Declaration 17. The Undoing of the Sykes-Picot Agreement 18. Losing Syria 19. A K ngdom for Faisal 20. And One for Abdullah 21. From Empire to Nation Epilogue Abbreviations Notes Index
Efraim Karsh is Professor and Director of the Mediterranean Studies Program at King's College, London. Inari Karsh is a scholar of Middle East history and politics.
A readable, scholarly re-examination of a long and complicated
Middle Eastern history...The Karshes provide useful historical
backgrounds to the emergence of independent countries in Egypt,
Greece, the Balkans and former Danube principalities like Serbia
and Romania. But the main purpose of this very detailed and
broad-shouldered history is to revise many of the standard
interpretations that have been given to Middle Eastern history over
the last two centuries. Most generally the Karshes dispute the idea
that the main events and developments in the region stem from the
machinations of the great powers, especially Britain and France.
The 'main impetus behind regional developments,' they write, was
'the local actors'...The authors write clearly and authoritatively
and with great geographical sweep. They provide crisp and informed
accounts of the main events involving the Ottomans and the rest of
the world...Those who do not know much of these events will learn a
great deal from this book, while specialists with views differing
from the Karshes' will face a robust challenge to their
interpretations.
*New York Times*
A provocative new history of the Middle East that in important
respects is different from any one had read before...The Ottomans
were around for a thousand years, the European portion of their
empire for about half of that time. That the ramifications are
still with us--so soon afterwards in the long view--should not
surprise. The Karshes' important book throws new, in places
probing, light on many of those ramifications.
*Washington Times*
Contrary to the supposition, popular with historians from the East
and the West, that the Ottoman Empire was slowly bled to death by
the great powers of Europe who later fed upon its imperial remains,
Efraim and Inari Karsh argue that the great powers repeatedly
bolstered the toppling empire, that the Ottomans played a
considerable part in their own demise, and that 'the main impetus
for the developments of this momentous period came from the local
actors'...All in all, the Karshes make a strong case that 'greed
rather than necessity drove the Ottoman Empire into the First World
War.'
*Boston Book Review*
In a tour de force that offers a profoundly new understanding of a
key issue in modern Middle Eastern history, Efraim and Inari Karsh
review the relations between Europe and the Ottoman empire in the
final century-and-a-half of the latter's existence, and in the
process nearly reverse the standard historical
interpretation...Drawing on a wide range of original sources, and
writing in a clearly organized fashion and in fast-paced prose, the
Karshes make a very compelling case for their revisionist position,
establishing it point by point and in elegant detail...In all, I
can hardly remember last reading so important and daring a
reinterpretation of Middle Eastern history, or one so laden with
implications.
*Commentary*
According to most accounts, the British sold dreams of Arab unity
and sovereignty down the river with the Sykes-Picot Agreement. But
in their revisionist history The Empires of the Sand, Efraim Karsh
and Inari Karsh argue that this tale of betrayal and Western
culpability is itself a mirage...Efraim and Inari Karsh will not
escape the cloud of controversy that surrounds them with this new
history...Whatever the historical record yields on [their] points,
one thing is clear: Pan-Arabism, despite its decline as an active
political agenda in the region, remains a live wire. Karsh and
Karsh, with their blunt contention that the allies 'generously
rewarded' the Hashemites 'in the form of vast territories several
times the size of the British Isles,' are likely to spark a
maelstrom of debate.
*Lingua Franca*
A complex and challenging revision of Middle Eastern political
history.
*Sunday Times*
This is a fascinating book.
*Sunday Telegraph*
In this striking reinterpretation of the modern history of the
Middle East, the authors discard the traditional view of Middle
Eastern rulers and peoples as passive, near helpless victims of
Western imperialist machinations. Rather, they convincingly portray
both Ottoman and Arab leaders as active players in the game of
power politics...The authors have superbly integrated an
interesting cast of characters with broad historical forces. The
result is an original and provocative reexamination of the recent
history of this vital region.
*Booklist*
The authors assault the prevailing wisdom that the decline of the
[Ottoman Empire] was inevitable; they claim, rather, that it
resulted from a series of poor choices made by its leaders. This
approach is both provocative and productive, as the authors,
relying on an impressive array of archival and secondary sources,
demonstrate how the Ottoman leaders sealed their own fate--their
decision to play cat-and-mouse with both sides during WWI was only
the final error in a series of blunders.
*Publishers Weekly*
[The Karshes'] ambitious aim in Empires of the Sand is threefold.
Firstly, they want to show that the Ottomans, even in decline, were
far from helpless, and used their diplomatic wiles with some
success in a rearguard action...Secondly, the authors maintain that
after the First World War, the boundaries of the new nation states
were determined not by popular demand of the inhabitants, but by
the ambitions of the local potentates. Finally, the Karshes blame
Ottoman imperialism itself for its downfall, and discount the
effects of the spread of European nationalist doctrines...The
Karshes make their case well, and their analysis of the events
leading to Turkey's entry into the war is thorough and
convincing...Empires of the Sand is an excellent and stimulating
work that deserves a readership beyond the world of the
professional historian. The Karshes have suggested interesting
answers to hard questions, and are worthy of thanks.
*The Jerusalem Post*
The chief goal of the authors of Empires of the Sand is to explain
the volatility of the twentieth-century Middle East in terms of its
origins in the nineteenth century
In seeking to do so, they have
presented a carefully-researched and well-written work.
*MESA Bulletin*
A readable, scholarly re-examination of a long and complicated
Middle Eastern history...The Karshes provide useful historical
backgrounds to the emergence of independent countries in Egypt,
Greece, the Balkans and former Danube principalities like Serbia
and Romania. But the main purpose of this very detailed and
broad-shouldered history is to revise many of the standard
interpretations that have been given to Middle Eastern history over
the last two centuries. Most generally the Karshes dispute the idea
that the main events and developments in the region stem from the
machinations of the great powers, especially Britain and France.
The 'main impetus behind regional developments,' they write, was
'the local actors'...The authors write clearly and authoritatively
and with great geographical sweep. They provide crisp and informed
accounts of the main events involving the Ottomans and the rest of
the world...Those who do not know much of these events will learn a
great deal from this book, while specialists with views differing
from the Karshes' will face a robust challenge to their
interpretations. -- Richard Bernstein * New York Times *
A provocative new history of the Middle East that in important
respects is different from any one had read before...The Ottomans
were around for a thousand years, the European portion of their
empire for about half of that time. That the ramifications are
still with us--so soon afterwards in the long view--should not
surprise. The Karshes' important book throws new, in places
probing, light on many of those ramifications. -- Colin Walters *
Washington Times *
Contrary to the supposition, popular with historians from the East
and the West, that the Ottoman Empire was slowly bled to death by
the great powers of Europe who later fed upon its imperial remains,
Efraim and Inari Karsh argue that the great powers repeatedly
bolstered the toppling empire, that the Ottomans played a
considerable part in their own demise, and that 'the main impetus
for the developments of this momentous period came from the local
actors'...All in all, the Karshes make a strong case that 'greed
rather than necessity drove the Ottoman Empire into the First World
War.' -- Charles M. Stang * Boston Book Review *
In a tour de force that offers a profoundly new
understanding of a key issue in modern Middle Eastern history,
Efraim and Inari Karsh review the relations between Europe and the
Ottoman empire in the final century-and-a-half of the latter's
existence, and in the process nearly reverse the standard
historical interpretation...Drawing on a wide range of original
sources, and writing in a clearly organized fashion and in
fast-paced prose, the Karshes make a very compelling case for their
revisionist position, establishing it point by point and in elegant
detail...In all, I can hardly remember last reading so important
and daring a reinterpretation of Middle Eastern history, or one so
laden with implications. -- Daniel Pipes * Commentary *
According to most accounts, the British sold dreams of Arab unity
and sovereignty down the river with the Sykes-Picot Agreement. But
in their revisionist history The Empires of the Sand, Efraim
Karsh and Inari Karsh argue that this tale of betrayal and Western
culpability is itself a mirage...Efraim and Inari Karsh will not
escape the cloud of controversy that surrounds them with this new
history...Whatever the historical record yields on [their] points,
one thing is clear: Pan-Arabism, despite its decline as an active
political agenda in the region, remains a live wire. Karsh and
Karsh, with their blunt contention that the allies 'generously
rewarded' the Hashemites 'in the form of vast territories several
times the size of the British Isles,' are likely to spark a
maelstrom of debate. -- Anna Secor * Lingua Franca *
A complex and challenging revision of Middle Eastern political
history. -- Anthony Sattin * Sunday Times *
This is a fascinating book. -- Geoffrey Wheatcroft * Sunday
Telegraph *
In this striking reinterpretation of the modern history of the
Middle East, the authors discard the traditional view of Middle
Eastern rulers and peoples as passive, near helpless victims of
Western imperialist machinations. Rather, they convincingly portray
both Ottoman and Arab leaders as active players in the game of
power politics...The authors have superbly integrated an
interesting cast of characters with broad historical forces. The
result is an original and provocative reexamination of the recent
history of this vital region. -- Jay Freeman * Booklist *
The authors assault the prevailing wisdom that the decline of the
[Ottoman Empire] was inevitable; they claim, rather, that it
resulted from a series of poor choices made by its leaders. This
approach is both provocative and productive, as the authors,
relying on an impressive array of archival and secondary sources,
demonstrate how the Ottoman leaders sealed their own fate--their
decision to play cat-and-mouse with both sides during WWI was only
the final error in a series of blunders. * Publishers Weekly *
[The Karshes'] ambitious aim in Empires of the Sand is
threefold. Firstly, they want to show that the Ottomans, even in
decline, were far from helpless, and used their diplomatic wiles
with some success in a rearguard action...Secondly, the authors
maintain that after the First World War, the boundaries of the new
nation states were determined not by popular demand of the
inhabitants, but by the ambitions of the local potentates. Finally,
the Karshes blame Ottoman imperialism itself for its downfall, and
discount the effects of the spread of European nationalist
doctrines...The Karshes make their case well, and their analysis of
the events leading to Turkey's entry into the war is thorough and
convincing...Empires of the Sand is an excellent and stimulating
work that deserves a readership beyond the world of the
professional historian. The Karshes have suggested interesting
answers to hard questions, and are worthy of thanks. -- Ralph
Ameian * The Jerusalem Post *
The chief goal of the authors of Empires of the Sand is to
explain the volatility of the twentieth-century Middle East in
terms of its origins in the nineteenth century In seeking to do so,
they have presented a carefully-researched and well-written work.
-- William Ochsenwald * MESA Bulletin *
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
