A brief history of the Middle East: [from Abraham to Arafat]

In The Brief History of the Middle East author Christopher Catherwood attempts to show how our entire world is ultimately shaped by events that have unfolded or have their origin in the Middle East. Catherwood insists that, unless we allow ignorance to blind us—which to a certain extent it already has—the Middle East must not be viewed as ''some strange place over there.'' Three of the world's major organized religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—all stem from the area, as do defining civilizations from Ancient Egypt to Babylonia. Catherwood examines this storied region through the lens of the present by asking these questions. How did the Palestinian issue arise? Why does Osama bin Laden harp on the glories of Moorish Spain? Why did Islamic extremism come to be a substitute for Arab socialist nationalism for so many? Today's headlines have clear historical explanations, and The Brief History of the Middle East will bring that concept into focus. Cover......Page 1 Copyright page......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Preface......Page 9 Orthographic Note and Note for Specialists......Page 15 Dates......Page 17 Introduction......Page 19 The Middle East at the Time of Christ......Page 23 The Height of the Abbasid and Fatimid Caliphates, AD 800–1000......Page 24 The Evolution and Expansion of the Ottoman Empire, 1520–1639......Page 26 The Middle East Today......Page 28 The Sumerians: the earliest known Middle Eastern civilization......Page 29 The Hittites: an Indo-European Empire......Page 31 The Phoenicians: a great trading nation......Page 32 Assyrians and Babylonians......Page 33 Semitic civilizations: a remarkable linguistic continuity......Page 35 Ancient Egypt......Page 37 What happened when in Egypt: a bird's-eye view......Page 39 The children of Israel: a brief history in context......Page 42 A godly people: from the Kingdom of Judah to the USA......Page 45 Judah: the survival of a people......Page 48 Some talk of Alexander: from Greeks to Romans......Page 50 The Roman-Jewish world of Jesus......Page 52 Monotheistic precursors: Akhenaten and Zoroastrianism......Page 55 Abraham, father of three faiths......Page 57 Salvation faiths: religions for the long term......Page 60 The faith of the Jews: the dawn of a monotheistic people......Page 61 God the law giver: the origins of our moral code......Page 65 Jesus of Nazareth: man and message......Page 71 The early church......Page 80 Christianity established......Page 89 Arabia and the life of the prophet......Page 94 The evolution of the Quran......Page 98 Islam's five pillars and jihad......Page 103 Islam: wider issues......Page 104 Sunni and Shia......Page 110 From the Arab Renaissance to Fatimids and Turks......Page 117 Manzikert......Page 123 The Crusades......Page 126 The Crusades: effects and interpretations......Page 132 The Mongols......Page 136 Imperial expansion in Europe and Asia......Page 145 Problems in East and West......Page 153 Wahhabi Islam......Page 158 The nineteenth century: Western expansion, Ottoman retreat......Page 162 The decline of the Ottoman Empire: Orientalism and after......Page 173 Turkey's choice......Page 182 War against the Ottomans: Gallipoli and Iraq......Page 186 Carving up the Middle East: the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Balfour Declaration......Page 191 The Arab revolt and its aftermath......Page 202 New rulers, new dynasties: Turkey, Iran, Arabia......Page 210 A Jewish dream realized......Page 217 Arab revolutions and Arab-Israeli wars......Page 226 The Shah and the Iranian Revolution......Page 240 Revolution and religion: theories, lessons and implications......Page 248 The 1980s and the First and Second Gulf Wars......Page 253 11 A Clash of Civilizations? 9/11 and the Future of the Middle East......Page 265 A Selective Chronology of the Middle East......Page 292 Glossary......Page 301 Bibliography......Page 305 Acknowledgements......Page 317 A......Page 321 B......Page 322 C......Page 323 E......Page 324 G......Page 325 H......Page 326 I......Page 327 J......Page 328 K......Page 329 M......Page 330 O......Page 331 P......Page 332 R......Page 333 S......Page 334 T......Page 335 W......Page 336 Z......Page 337

In The Brief History of the Middle East author Christopher Catherwood attempts to show how our entire world is ultimately shaped by events that have unfolded or have their origin in the Middle East. Catherwood insists that, unless we allow ignorance to blind us—which to a certain extent it already has—the Middle East must not be viewed as "some strange place over there." Three of the world's major organized religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—all stem from the area, as do defining civilizations from Ancient Egypt to Babylonia. Catherwood examines this storied region through the lens of the present by asking these questions. How did the Palestinian issue arise? Why does Osama bin Laden harp on the glories of Moorish Spain? Why did Islamic extremism come to be a substitute for Arab socialist nationalism for so many? Today's headlines have clear historical explanations, and The Brief History of the Middle East will bring that concept into focus.

"Christopher Catherwood puts the twentieth-century Middle East into its broader historical context - from the ancient empires to the dawn of Islam, from the Crusades to the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire, and from the creation of Israel to today's so-called "clash of civilizations". He asks key questions: Iraq is at the heart of Middle Eastern history, a place where Jews, Muslims and Christians lived for over a thousand years in harmony. Why is it so different now? What is the place of Jews in the Middle East? Why does Osama bin Laden see 1918, with the fall of the Ottoman Empire, as the tipping point? These issues are clearly explained in a way that reaches behind the rhetoric right to the roots of the present conflict."--BOOK JACKET