Overview: This comprehensive work provides a penetrating analysis of modern Middle Eastern history, from the Ottoman and Egyptian reforms, through the challenge of Western imperialism, to the impact of US foreign policies. After introducing the reader to the region's history from the origins of Islam in the seventh century, A History of the Modern Middle East focuses on the past two centuries of profound and often dramatic change. Although built around a framework of political history, the book also carefully integrates social, cultural, and economic developments into a single, expertly crafted account. In updating this fifth edition of the late William Cleveland's popular introductory text, Martin Bunton provides a thorough account of the major transformative developments over the past four years, including a new chapter on the tumultuous Arab uprisings and the participation of Islamist parties in a new political order in the Middle East. This comprehensive work provides an analysis of the last two centuries of Middle Eastern history, from the rise of the Safavids and Ottomans to the recent Gulf War. Explains the deep historical currents flowing beneath today's headlines--essential reading for anyone seeking a better understanding of today's turbulent world. Photos. Maps.

Part 1: Development Of Islamic Civilization To The Eighteenth Century: -- Rise and expansion of Islam -- Development of Islamic civilization to the fifteenth century -- Ottoman and Safavid empires: a new imperial synthesis -- Part 2: Beginnings Of The Era Of Transformation: -- Forging a new synthesis: the pattern of reforms, 1789-1849 -- Ottoman empire and Egypt during the era of the Tanzimat -- Egypt and Iran in the late nineteenth century -- Response of Islamic society -- Era of the Young Turks and the Iranian constitutionalists -- World War I and the end of the Ottoman order -- Part 3: Struggle For Independence: The Interwar Era To The End Of World War II: -- Authoritarian reform in Turkey and Iran -- Arab struggle for independence: Egypt, Iraq, and Transjordan from the interwar era to 1945 -- Arab struggle for independence: Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia from the interwar era to 1945 -- Palestine mandate and the birth of the state of Israel -- Part 4: Independent Middle East From The End Of World War II To The 1970s: -- Democracy and authoritarianism: Turkey and Iran -- Middle East in the age of Nasser: the Egyptian base -- Middle East in the age of Nasser: the radicalization of Arab politics -- Israel and the Palestinians from 1948 to the 1970s -- Part 5: Resurgence Of Islam: The Middle East From The 1970s To The 1991 Gulf War -- Iranian Revolution and the revival of Islam -- Changing patterns of war and peace: Egypt and Lebanon in the 1970s and 1980s -- Arabian Peninsula in the petroleum era -- Consolidation of authoritarian rule in Syria and Iraq: the regimes of Hafiz al-Asad and Saddam Husayn -- Part 6: Challenges To The Existing Order: The Middle East In The 1990s And 2000s: -- Palestinian Intifada and the 1991 Gulf War -- Peace so near, a peace so far: Palestinian-Israeli relations since the 1991 Gulf War -- Patterns of continuity and change in Turkey, Iran, and Lebanon -- America's troubled moment in the Middle East -- 2011 Arab uprisings.