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The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 is probably the pivotal moment of the 20th century.
The good: Remarkably interesting, well researched, narrative approach to a WWI history focused on the actions of Britain and allies towards what became the Middle East. Essential foundation for understanding that region, and America’s and Britain’s policies towards it, today. More detailed than it needed to be, but managed to stay interesting regardless.
The lacking: This is a victor’s history, a British one primarily, at the expense of perspectives from the Middle Eastern cultures affected. Those perspectives are there, but it is not the focus. This is also a personality driven (and to an extent, event driven) history. The last chapter and Afterward provide the bulk of analysis drawing connections to post-WWI events and attitudes within and about the Middle East. They were the most interesting chapters in the book and could have been the focus.
The lacking: This is a victor’s history, a British one primarily, at the expense of perspectives from the Middle Eastern cultures affected. Those perspectives are there, but it is not the focus. This is also a personality driven (and to an extent, event driven) history. The last chapter and Afterward provide the bulk of analysis drawing connections to post-WWI events and attitudes within and about the Middle East. They were the most interesting chapters in the book and could have been the focus.
informative
slow-paced
This made a good follow-up read for Destiny Disrupted, which covered a vastly longer time frame and gave the perspective of the Islamic side.
This book instead focuses on the European involvement over the decade or so surrounding World War I. It illustrates the naïveté, the hubris, the complexity, the confusion of those who would try to control forces formed over centuries. And what a flustercuck it all was.
As the writing goes, the details were often overwhelming, the timelines and structure boggling, yet by the end you get the idea of what a complicated set of ideas, ideals, prejudices, vices, and accidents lurk behind the course of history.
This book instead focuses on the European involvement over the decade or so surrounding World War I. It illustrates the naïveté, the hubris, the complexity, the confusion of those who would try to control forces formed over centuries. And what a flustercuck it all was.
As the writing goes, the details were often overwhelming, the timelines and structure boggling, yet by the end you get the idea of what a complicated set of ideas, ideals, prejudices, vices, and accidents lurk behind the course of history.
Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of WWI by reading about how people just got some major assumptions wrong... and screwed things up in a way that has an impact on today's situation. Some of Fromkin's ideas seem off, but very illuminating.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Colonialism has done incalculable damage. Also, antisemitism is everywhere, even in the creation is Israel. The current situation in the Middle East didn’t have to be the current situation. This is a fascinating book, which I’d highly recommend with the caveat that this is the European perspective of this history, not, for the most part, the Middle Eastern perspective.
This was a really challenging read...so many people to keep straight, so many events. I needed a map ready nearby to follow things geographically. But it gave a lot of historical context to the modern day Middle Eastern issues...something I think a lot of us Americans lack...I know I did.
This book is incredibly detailed and dense so it was a slow but fascinating read. Very interesting to see the decisions that were made during WWI and the post war settlement phase and the impacts those decisions have today. Also very fascinating to look through hindsight at all the pronouncements regarding Winston Churchill being washed up during and after WWI.
What a slog! This book aggravated me on so many levels: the author's inconsistent use of sources to provide context on the Arab and Turkish perspectives, his irresponsible handling of the Zionist/Arab conflict, his irresponsible handling of the Armenian/Ottoman and Greek/Ottoman politics, etc. Moreover, he tries to center the book on Winston Churchill, who I don't find to be a terribly charismatic character... but then he doesn't even have Churchill in the book for the middle 300ish pages. Go figure. Even with that benefit, the book still is too detailed, too ambitious, too... obnoxiously dead-white-men... AND I'M A POLITICAL HISTORIAN.
Yuck.
That said, to be fair, it does have some useful information on the ways that British policy stumbled through the war, and does a fair job of demonstrating the tensions between the Foreign Office, War Office, Arab Bureau, and India Office. Lloyd George features prominently when Churchill falls off the map for a while-- and I do love Lloyd George. And as a teaching tool, this serves a really useful purpose by creating frequent opportunities for widening students' perspectives by countering with other historians' interpretations of events. For anyone with a serious interest in WWI and the Middle East, I would recommend Malcolm Yapp's work over this one any day... but that one's currently out of print and hard to find.
Yuck.
That said, to be fair, it does have some useful information on the ways that British policy stumbled through the war, and does a fair job of demonstrating the tensions between the Foreign Office, War Office, Arab Bureau, and India Office. Lloyd George features prominently when Churchill falls off the map for a while-- and I do love Lloyd George. And as a teaching tool, this serves a really useful purpose by creating frequent opportunities for widening students' perspectives by countering with other historians' interpretations of events. For anyone with a serious interest in WWI and the Middle East, I would recommend Malcolm Yapp's work over this one any day... but that one's currently out of print and hard to find.