Kirkus Reviews
A straightforward, careful primer on Arab political history from the rise of the Ottoman Empire to the forging of modern fundamentalist Islamic entities. Rogan (Modern History of the Middle East/Oxford Univ.; Frontiers of the State in the Late Ottoman Empire, 2000) traces the significant modern themes of nationalism, imperialism, revolution, industrialization, migration and women's rights over the past five centuries within the Islamic states, stretching from North Africa to the Sinai, the Middle East to South Asia. With the conquest of the Cairo-based Mamluk Empire by the Ottomans in 1517, the vast Turkish-speaking Islamic empire would now rule from foreign capitals over the globe, "a political reality," Rogan writes, "that would prove one of the defining features of modern Arab history." Managing the multi-ethnicity of the empire was a challenge, and by the mid-18th century local leaders such as Zahir in Palestine and Ali Bey in Egypt challenged Ottoman autonomy, while the rise of the Wahhabi sect called for a return to the strictures of religious orthodoxy. Further currents of reform and nationalism, as in the Balkans, weakened the central state, while the waves of Franco-Anglo colonialism undermined Ottoman authority, from North Africa to Palestine. By the end of World War I the European powers negotiated their settlements in terms of "divide and rule." Rogan, who regards Arab history from the viewpoint of Arabs, concentrates on the postwar collapse of the Ottoman Empire, as British and French domination ebbed, Israel was established, the greed for oil transformed the region and a new generation repudiated the era of nationalism and ineffectual leadership and looked to an earlierproud history of Islam. A sweeping history that dwells on political rather than artistic or cultural developments within diverse Arab countries. Agent: Felicity Bryan/Felicity Bryan Literary Agency
From the Publisher
"A rich, galloping narrative that spans the Arab world from Morocco to Yemen to Iraq… Rogan’s The Arabs: A History is an outstanding, gripping and exuberant narrative, full of flamboyant character sketches, witty asides and magisterial scholarship, that explains much of what we need to know about the world today."—Simon Sebag Montefiore, Financial Times
"[Rogan] provides a prism through which the lay Westerner can view five centuries of tumult, zealotry, and complication…. Deeply erudite and distinctly humane, Rogan consistently plays up (and never papers over) the bountiful East-West parallels."—Atlantic
"Readable and reliable, this sweeping survey balances the unity of a coherent story with due attention to detail. As such, Rogan’s contribution belongs in the company of the earlier classics by Hitti and Hourani."—Foreign Affairs
"Rogan manages the somewhat staggering feat of outlining nearly 500 years of history in a way that is neither cursory nor overwhelming – and is based in the experiences of the people themselves…. [Rogan’s] ability to gather and synthesize such a wealth of information, showing both the humanity and malice present on all sides, while neither bowing to nor accepting conventional wisdom, is truly remarkable. It’s to be hoped that America’s decision makers get their hands on a copy of The Arabs – and take very good notes."—Dallas Morning News
“[A]n entertaining, gracefully written, and eye-opening look at a diverse people whose history, culture and character are often badly misunderstood (if not actively distorted) here in the United States. Read it. You’ll learn a lot.”—Stephen M. Walt, ForeignPolicy.com
"The vivid narrative of The Arabs is… eloquent, and compulsively readable."—The Guardian (UK)
"[The Arabs], which starts with the Ottoman Turks’ conquest of the Arab world in 1516-17, offers a strikingly vivid and authoritative account of its subsequent experience… [Rogan’s] rehearsal of recent Middle East history is impeccable."—Times (UK)
"Rogan’s brilliant book is clear-eyed and balanced. Mixing academic rigour with a lively narrative style, The Arabs: A History is required reading for anyone seeking to understand the background to the mess that the Arabs find themselves in."—Spectator (UK)
"[A] fascinating [story], and exceedingly well told…. What makes [Rogan’s] book particularly useful is the way it situates [the Arab-Israeli conflict] within the wider context of the Arabs’ long, and still unsuccessful, struggle to come to more equal terms with the West. Europeans in particular, and also Americans, need their memories jogged about just how arrogant, duplicitous and frequently stupid their governments have been in dealing with the Middle East…. [An] exemplary history."—Economist (UK)
"Very much a modern history… Rogan gives a lucid account of political developments throughout the Arab lands, unpicking messy tangles such as the Lebanese civil war or the fragmentation of Palestinian political movements."—Sunday Telegraph (UK)
"An incredibly ambitious book… wonderfully inclusive and articulate and knowledgeable, pretty much indispensable."—Scotsman (UK)
"A straightforward, careful primer on Arab political history from the rise of the Ottoman Empire to the forging of modern fundamentalist Islamic entities…. A sweeping history."—Kirkus
"Framing modern history as viewed from the Arab world, Rogan eruditely furnishes Western readers with a background to current events."—Booklist
"No better guide to the modern history of the Arab world could be found than Eugene Rogan. He is attentive as much to the insider accounts in Arab memoirs as to the imperial schemes hatched in drawing rooms in Paris and London, as concerned with popular movements and uprisings as with elite reformism, and unafraid to confront directly and with the best evidence and documentation available the vexed issues of colonialism, Orientalism, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Rogan achieves a rare, and realistic synoptic vision of the way in which Arabness has been shaped by both indigenous forces and Western imperial ones. In recent years, the United States has attempted to rule Arabs while carefully avoiding knowing anything about them, a strategy that has yielded all too predictable results. Those in the West who aspire to engage the Arab world in more productive ways in the future will find Rogan an indispensable companion."—Juan Cole, author of Engaging the Muslim World
"A masterful, thorough, and well-written survey of the entire sweep of modern Arab history. Full of lively vignettes but comprehensive at the same time, this book will be of great interest both to general readers and students of the Arab world."—Rashid Khalidi, Columbia University
"Eugene Rogan writes about the Middle East with exceptional empathy, wisdom, and insight. His book is a landmark in scholarship on this complex and controversial region. Western scholars have written extensively about the Middle East but mostly from the outside looking in. The Arabs often feature in their accounts as mere driftwood on the sea of international affairs. Rogan, by contrast, has narrated the history of the region over the last five centuries from the inside looking out. He tells the history of the Arabs from their own perspective, using an impressive range of Arabic sources. It is a fascinating story and in Eugene Rogan it has found its most gifted chronicler."—Avi Shlaim, author of The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World
"Anyone who seeks to understand why the Islamic world bears a grudge against the West should read The Arabs. Few scholars know their subject better than Eugene Rogan, while even fewer are capable of rendering so complex a subject so engagingly readable. It is a joy to open, and a deprivation to put down."—Sir Alistair Horne, author of A Savage War of Peace
“With eloquence, verve, and understanding, Eugene Rogan rightly reminds us that the world, and the Arabs themselves, need to remember the past. If we are to build a better relationship between the Arab world and the West, if we are to avoid making the same mistakes again and again, we need to know Arab history from its many high points to its low ones. I can think of no better guide on this crucially important journey than The Arabs.”—Margaret MacMillan, author of Paris 1919 and Nixon and Mao
From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY
"Rogan eruditely furnishes Western readers with a background to current events." —Booklist
Library Journal - Audio
08/01/2016
This sweeping history of the Arab world will enlighten Western audiences, but its broad scope makes listening a bit challenging: one may want a print copy at hand for reference. Rogan (history, Oxford Univ.) uses numerous primary sources to provide a succinct history of more than 500 years of events in the region, though much of the book focuses on modern times. The author examines how Arab frustration with the West has developed into fragmented opposition to policies world powers have put in place. Additionally, Rogan delves into ways people in the Arab world communicate via social media and methods both organized and unplanned. Narrator Derek Perkins's strong performance is a pleasure to hear. VERDICT An excellent choice for those seeking greater insight into the Arab world.—Cheryl Youse, Moultrie, GA
JULY 2016 - AudioFile
Derek Perkins’s powerful narration of Oxford historian Eugene Rogan’s sweeping history of the Arab peoples and nations is audio listening at its very best. The pace never slackens, the hours fly by, and the story that unfolds is as dramatic and fraught as any novel. We in the West know little of the history of the Middle East and even less of its long, troubled relations with the European colonial powers. Rogan, writing largely from an Arab point of view, fills in dozens of blanks in today’s headline stories and offers a perspective that is illuminating, and persuasive. Perkins, as always, is a master of articulation, handling with fluency and confidence a challenging text—one more challenging for the eye than for the ear. D.A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
