In this comprehensive history of the Kurds from the 19th century to the present day, David McDowall examines the old and new aspects of the struggle, and the failure of modern states to respond to the challenge of Kurdish nationalism.

Introduction: Kurdish identity and social formation -- Book 1. The Kurds in the age of tribe and empire. Kurdistan before the nineteenth century -- Ottoman Kurdistan, 1800-1850 -- Ottoman Kurdistan, 1850-1914 -- The Qajars and the Kurds -- Revolution, nationalism and war, 1908-1918 -- Book 2. Incorporating the Kurds. Redrawing the map: the partition of the Ottoman Kurdistan -- The Kurds, Britain and Iraq -- Incorporating Turkey's Kurds -- The Kurds under Reza Shah -- Book 3. Ethno-nationalism in Iran. Tribe or ethnicity? The Mahabad Republic -- Iran: creating a national movement -- Subjects of the Shi'i Republic -- Book 4. Ethno-nationalism in Iraq. The birth of a nationalist movement under Hashimite Rule -- The Kurds in revolutionary Iraq -- The Kurds under the Baath, 1968-1975 -- The road to genocide, 1975-1988 -- Uprising and self-rule -- Book 5. Ethno-nationalism in Turkey. The Kurdish national revival in Turkey, 1946-1979 -- The PKK and the mass movement -- The Kurds in exile: building the nation -- Afterword -- Appendix 1. The Treaty of Sèvres -- Appendix 2. The Kurds of Syria -- Appendix 3. The Kurds of Lebanon -- Appendix 4. The Kurds of the Caucasus.