Lewis shares stories of his wartime service in London and Cairo as an intelligence officer for MI6. After the war, he was the first Western scholar to enter the Ottoman archives. This work chronicles a time of spectacular upheaval in the Middle East : from the Second World War and the founding of Israel to the Iranian Revolution and the Arab Spring.

Includes index.

Early days -- The war years -- In the Ottoman archives -- Cultural diplomacy -- Why study history? -- Episodes in an academic life -- Crossing the Atlantic -- The neighborhood -- The clash of civilizations -- Orientalism and the cult of right thinking -- Judgment in Paris -- Writing and rewriting history -- Politics and the Iraq War -- In sum -- Appendix I. The dirge -- Appendix II. Honors and publications.