Modern Middle East history

Author's name: William L. Cleveland and Martin Bunton Publisher: The National Center for Translation Year of publication: 2025 Literary classification: History and Politics Brief about the book: This book aims to present a general picture of the modern history of the Middle East, through a captivating and focused panoramic view that takes the form of a narrative style, which combines a number of events similar in their political, social, and religious backgrounds, and links between characters and their multiple and intertwined relationships. It also merges the past with the present, and looks from afar towards future horizons, especially regarding peace in the Middle East and Arab-American relations. The book's perspective in space begins from Egypt in the west to Iran in the east, and from Turkey in the north to the Arabian Peninsula in the south. In time, it spans from the late 18th century to the early 21st century. What distinguishes this historical panorama is providing the reader the opportunity to grasp the general features of the historical periods, to make comparisons between different countries within the same timeframe, and to form a general idea of the overall history of the region. Through translating this book, the National Center for Translation seeks to present to its readers the Western or Orientalist view of the Arab and Islamic East as presented by some Western writers; to familiarize them with this perspective, critique it, and discuss it. At the same time, it raises the question: how does the other see us?