The Making of the Modern Middle East

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What to expect

This audiobook is compellingly read by the author, Jeremy Bowen.

A Spectator and New Statesman Book of the Year
'An illuminating and riveting read’ – Jonathan Dimbleby

Jeremy Bowen, the International Editor of the BBC, has been covering the Middle East since 1989 and is uniquely placed to explain its complex past and its troubled present. Here, Bowen offers readers a gripping and invaluable guide to the modern Middle East, how it came to be and what its future might hold.

In The Making of the Modern Middle East – in part based on his acclaimed podcast, ‘Our Man in the Middle East’ – Bowen takes us on a journey across the Middle East and through its history. He meets ordinary men and women on the front line, their leaders, whether brutal or benign, and he explores the power games that have so often wreaked devastation on civilian populations as those leaders, whatever their motives, jostle for political, religious and economic control.

Clear throughout is Bowen's deep understanding of the political, cultural and religious differences between countries as diverse as Erdogan’s Turkey, Assad’s Syria, Netanyahu’s Israel and Palestine, whether Hamas-controlled Gaza or the West Bank, and his long experience of covering events in the region.

Critics Review

Arresting . . . excellent, doom-freighted
The Sunday Times
Jeremy Bowen is one of the finest journalists and broadcasters of our age - qualities which shine through every page of this superb book. . . His judgements are invariably balanced but when they are due he does not shrink from scathing criticisms of the key actors. The result is an illuminating and riveting read.
Jonathan Dimbleby, broadcaster, author and historian
[A] compelling blend of sweeping history and vivid memoir . . . Bowen paints in the historical background masterfully and manages to convey the pressure, euphoria and horror of war reporting as well
Mail on Sunday
Bears witness to how lofty dreams of the post-Cold War period crashed and burned ... with deep empathy and understanding of the roots of the conflict
The New Statesman
Few people are as well placed to authoritatively depict the making of the modern Middle East than Jeremy Bowen, the BBC’s long-serving correspondent in the region . . . excellent
The New European
A clear and dispassionate account of the impact of oil, nationalism and the West on the Middle East. I left the book feeling both well informed and very depressed.
The New Statesman, Books of the Year
A gripping and compelling account that swings between gut-wrenching eyewitness stories and dispassionate analysis, laying bare the hopes and horrors of the Middle East in the twenty-first century. A remarkable book.
Professor Eugene Rogan, author of The Arabs: A History
A heart-wrenching read . . . We should be thankful for his journalism; and for this work, too, with its rich historical details, its composure and balance, and its readability. The book is boosted by Bowen’s voice registering in the reader’s mind, in a narrative sprawling across centuries and borders. The writing is like his reporting: steady and clear, considered, compassionate
The Irish Times
He is skilled at sketching out the history, the tortous issues and the character of countries in a few elegant paragraphs
The Spectator
This book is a very personal and erudite history of a troubled region . . . I highly recommend this fascinating book which is also a testament to a better era in journalism.
Michael Burleigh, author of The Best of Times, The Worst of Times: A History of Now
This is a wise, compelling, fast-paced book - essential reading if you wish to make sense of the forces that have convulsed the Middle East, as well as unsettling all our lives, since the end of the Cold War.
Jason Cowley, author of Who Are We Now? and Editor in Chief of The New Statesman
Bold . . . wears his knowledge lightly . . . Bowen knows when to provide context and detail, and crucially, when to stop – always a challenge for anyone explaining the Middle East.
The Daily Telegraph
It’s a terrific book, pithy and pacy, equally at home telling stories of ordinary people as in encounters with princes and presidents . . . Bowen’s reach is unparalleled and his voice rings through loud and clear on every page.
Matthew Teller, journalist and author of Nine Quarters of Jerusalem
As a veteran of numerous Middle East conflicts spanning several decades, Jeremy Bowen is uniquely qualified to analyse and explain the region’s complex political and religious landscape. His book should be essential reading for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of this fascinating, but deeply troubled, part of the world.
Con Coughlin, author of Saddam: The Secret Life and Khomeini's Ghost

User Reviews

Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
5.0
5.0
Lots of amazing personal stories intertwined with recent history from one of the BBC’s best correspondents. Jeremy Bowen’s narration of his own book is fantastic.
The Postman 30/12/2024
5.0
5.0
Wow! Lots of detail! Good background though probably more than you could remember. Another doctorate requirement for Jeremy!
colemanclyde 30/05/2024

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