From the First World War to the Arab Spring

M. E. McMillan is author of Fathers and Sons: The Rise and Fall of Political Dynasty in the Middle East and the acclaimed The Meaning of Mecca: The Politics of Pilgrimage in Early Islam. She has worked as a translator for the United Nations in New York and Geneva.

"I would certainly recommend it. It is clear, well written and accurate, but above all balanced and sympathetic, and a great place to start." (Hugh Kennedy, Times Higher Education, timeshigherededucation.com, May, 2016) "M. E. McMillan has written a cultural and political history with the clear and objective language of unbiased journalism. ... McMillan succeeds admirably in presenting readers with a complete yet concise briefing on the last fifteen hundred years. ... It is a truly brilliant piece of writing." (Hubert O'Hearn, San Diego Book Review, sandiegobookreview.com, December, 2015)

• Acknowledgements Notes on conventions Introduction Lost in the Labyrinth: What's Really Going on in the Middle East? PART I: THE TANGLED WEB: WHY THE GREAT POWERS OF EUROPE BECAME INVOLVED IN THE MIDDLE EAST 1. Sarajevo, Sunday, June 28, 1914 2. The British Empire and the Arab World: Ambition, Austerity and A Class Apart 3. The French Empire and the Arab World: From the Crusades to the Civilizing Mission 4. The Russian Empire and the Arab World: Religion, Rome and the New Rome 5. The German Empire and the Arab World: Family Feuds and Eastern Ambitions 6. The Ottoman Empire: How the Arab World Was Won and Lost PART II: TOO MANY STRAIGHT LINES ON THE MAP: WHERE, WHEN AND WHY IT STARTED TO GO WRONG 7. London, Tuesday, December 21, 1915 8. The Arab World Before the War: The Facts on the Ground 9. The Re-Making of the Middle East: Enter the Nation-State 10. From Sykes-Picot to the Treaty of Sevres: Betrayals, Backstabbing and Broken Promises 11. The Poisoned Legacy and The War's Unanswered Questions PART III: ALL OR NOTHING: WHY ALL ROADS LEAD TO JERUSALEM 12. Where to Begin? 13. Jerusalem: The Temple Mount 14. Jerusalem: The Noble Sanctuary PART IV: KINGS, COLONELS AND COUPS: WHY THERE IS A DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT IN THE ARAB WORLD 15. Cairo, Wednesday, July 23, 1952 16. The Kings, the Colonels and the Political Time Warp: The Return of the Middle Ages 17. I am the State: Power, Politics and the Cult of Personality 18. The Problem of Absolute Power: From Stability to Stagnation PART V: THE SACRED VERSUS THE SECULAR: WHO SPEAKS FOR ISLAM? 19. Mecca, Tuesday, November 20, 1979 20. 1979: The View from Tehran 21. 1979: Holy War and Unholy Alliances 22. The Arab Spring and the Democratic Alternative Epilogue Untangling the Web: What Now? Select Bibliography Index