Rating: 
Summary: The Delusional Gods of the Middle East
Review: 'A Peace to End All Peace' is history as it should be written - epic in scope, scrupulous in the use of sources, careful in analysis and effortless in prose. It is the story of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and of the birth of the Modern Middle East from its ashes. It tells of the rise of nationalism, of the clashes of armies, and of the power of ideologies. Mostly, it is the story of how the great statesmen, in ignorance and folly, with motives which professed to be pure but usually weren't, accidentally created the Middle East we know and hate today.With the outbreak of the Great War, the status quo antebellum in the Middle East was shattered. Until the war, British policy was to use the nations of the Middle East (although they didn't know it by that name) as a barrier against expansionist Czarist Russia, which, in the four hundred years leading to the war has expanded in a rate of 50 square miles a day (p. 475). The British main interest was to keep the Ottoman Empire existing. Although situation in the Empire changed a little with the rise of Nationalism, Zionism, and especially the Young Turks movement, the European policy has not quite changed. Indeed, as the war was breaking out, the Ottoman Empire was seen as a state of no importance, and the British continually underestimated it, in a sequence of errors which brought the Empire into the war on the German side, and which culminated in the Gallipoli fiasco. Yet as the war progressed, British officials started to change their view. Great confusion and indecision characterized British decision making, torn between those who saw the East as the key to victory in the war (Lloyd George), those who saw it as a distraction of no importance (Lord Kitchener), and the various bureaucracies who battled for control, power and prestige, while supporting two different and opposing factions in Arabia - King Hussein of Mecca and Wahabbi leader Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud. Increasingly, the British saw the key to the Middle East policy in an upcoming Arab Rebellion, headed by King Hussein. In reality, Hussein held little more power then any other Emir in Arabia, and whatever troops he had were bought with British gold. When his rebellion finally came, it hardly affected the outcome of the war, and whatever aid it did give came primarily because of the Gold and influence of T.E. Lawrence on Hussein's son Feisal. The reality had little effect on British policy makers, and particularly on Mark Sykes, the maverick amateur who negotiated the unworkable agreement with the French on partitioning the Middle East between the two powers. Almost before the ink dried on the Sykes-Pico agreements, however, British officials, both in Cairo and in London, started to undermine the agreement, wishing to give no real independence to the Arabs and make as few concessions as necessary to the French. Things became increasingly complicated as the British became aware of the Zionist claim to Palestine, while Czarist Russia fell and America entered the war on an idealistic but unrealistic platform of independence to the minor nations. As the war came to an end and the negotiations in Paris started, Lloyd George's government wrestled with its conflicting pledges, the situation in the Middle East which it barely understood, and the increasingly anti-Imperialist feeling at Home. The Result was a mess, as the British alienated all of her friends (the Arabs by not granting them real independence, the Turks by supporting Greek occupation of Smyrna, the French by opposing its own colonialist designs in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, and America by continuing the imperialist plan with a new Rhetoric), and had to fight uprisings throughout the Middle East with a dwindling force, due to the lack of support for the imperialist efforts at home. What David Fromkin calls the Settlement of 1922, with the Middle East in boarders more or less as they are today, with new Units such as Palestine (now Israel), Syria, Trans-Jordan and Lebanon in place, was brought more by exhaustion then by the will of the Foreign (Primarily British) statesmen who shaped it. By the end of the War, Fromkin writes "British Society was generally inclined to reject the idealistic case for imperialism (that it would extend the benefits of advanced civilization to a backward region) as quixotic, and the practical case for it (that it would benefit Britain to expend her empire) as untrue." (p. 561)... Britain's Empire, though greater than it has ever been, was no longer feasible, and the Imperialist design for the Middle East, planned in the middle of the War and imposed after it, unworkable. "British policy-makers imposed a settlement upon the Middle East in 1922 in which, for the most part, they themselves no longer believed"(p. 563, italics in the original). The most astonishing theme of the book is the utter ignorance of the decision makers, primarily in London, but also in Cairo, Mecca, Berlin and Washington. "Lloyd George, who o kept demanding that Britain should rule Palestine from (in the biblical phrase) Dan to Beersheba, did not know where Dan was. He searched for it in a nineteenth-century Biblical atlas, but it was not until nearly a year after the armistice that General Allenby was able to report to him that Dan has been located and, as it was not where the Prime Minister wanted it to be, Britain asked for a boundary further North. 'A Peace to End All Peace' gives a fascinating and disturbing portrait of WW1 decision makers. One can only hope that our leaders today are better informed.
Rating:
Summary: Must Read
Review: This book is extremely detailed and one may need to read it twice before fully understanding and grasping the issues. It is well worth your time. There are only few books that lay out in such details the origins of the Middle east. It also clearly shows that the British outdated foreign policy has proved to be disastrous 50-70 years later.
Rating:
Summary: This is how history should be taught in high school.
Review: Wonderfully written but I agree it needs to refer to Turkish documents. This book should be mandatory reading for any person who needs to make international decisions.
Rating:
Summary: This Should Be Required Reading.
Review: This book should be required reading for students and others seeking a better understanding of History and current events in the Middle East. Along with Friedman's excellent "From Beirut...etc.", this is one of the best books I have come across for that purpose. The two books are not the only books you should read, but they are complementary and a good place to start. The only complaint I would make is that I wish there were more and more detailed maps, but that is a small quibble, especially since I ALWAYS want more and more detailed maps no matter what book I am reading. Last year I came across a dilapidated bound copy of the major post-WWI treaties, which was published sometime during the 1920s. It was supposed to include a collection of full color, highly detailed maps showing the areas affected by the treaties. Unfortunately, the maps were contained in a second and separate volume which was not present in the trash box I found the book in. Oh well...
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good, but with a difference
Review: The book is very explanatory, excellent indeed! The only thing that made me confused each time I read the same thing was that Fromkin is calling the Ottoman Empire before 1920-23 (both are important to make distinction)-even not allways- as "Turkey". Depending on the historical facts, "Turkey" was established as "Turkish Republic" in 1923. Its parliament was established in 1920. Therefore, I do not think calling the authority of Ottoman Sultan (Empire) before 1923 as "Turkey" is proper. It made me confused and go back and forth in my head each time I read the same kind of statement. Small, but very important detail regarding the consequences of the history.
thanks again
Rating:
Summary: Relies mainly on British documents
Review: This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how the Middle East (and we) got where it is today. I agree with the other positive reviews and the only thing I would add is that the author seems to have drawn much more on British sources and documents than on data from other countries. This is not to say that the book has a British bias, it does not. But it would have been even better if the author had analyzed more documents from the French, Turkish, German, Russian or Arab sides. It is possible that he did not do so due to language or availability of other sources. A great book in any case.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating read germane to current events
Review: I literally stumbled upon "A Peace to End All Peace" while reading widely on the First World War and am extremely happy I did. My first reaction was one of surprise that a relatively dense tome on the seemingly arcane topic of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire was able to achieve New York Times Bestseller status. After reading it, however, I'm not at all surprised that author David Fromkin achieved critical and commercial success with this book. Fromkin's work has a number of things going for it: a fascinating and incredibly relevant subject; a glittering cast; a liberal dose of historical irony; and a highly effective format and literary style. Although the narrative is set nearly a century ago and the focus is squarely on British foreign policy, the history is germane to current events. This book makes it clear that American foreign policy today is grappling with the mess made by London in 1914-1922. It is impossible to fully understand and appreciate the ongoing events in Israel, Palestine, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan without a full understanding of the events so lucidly delivered in "A Peace to End All Peace." The most engrossing works of popular history, I've found, accentuate the roles and inter-relations of fabulous personalities. Academic historians may cringe at this grandstanding, but the effect in undeniable. Fromkin has embraced this model and has benefited greatly from the fact that one the central characters in his story - Winston Churchill - is also one of the most colorful political figures of all time. The author has a pretty strong supporting cast to work with as well, including David Lloyd George, Pasha Enver, Lord Kitchener, Mustapha Kemel (later Ataturk), and T.E. Lawrence, to name just a very few. Irony is a powerful and persuasive tool in story telling, and it is a centerpiece of Fromkin's narrative. The author suggests that nearly everything about the confluence of events that brought about the political settlements of 1922 that gave us the modern Middle East is filled with tragedy and irony. The greatest irony of all, Fromkin argues, is that in the settlements of 1922 the British got exactly what they wanted in 1914, but it was an arrangement that nobody wanted or supported in 1922. Finally, Fromkin is able to make such a sweeping story accessible and engaging because of his neat organization that breaks the story up into easily digestible chunks. The book is 567 pages long (not including notes, bibliography, etc.) split up into 61 chapters, further sub-divided into three or four sections. Thus, each idea or event is covered in two or three succinctly written pages. In short, "A Peace to End All Peace" is the best book I've read in quite some time - and I read a lot. If you are interested in fully educating yourself on the great foreign policy issue of our generation or are simply looking to read a wonderfully written piece of history, do yourself a favor and get this book.
Rating:
Summary: By far the best book so far on this complex subject
Review: This is by far the best book so far on this very complex subject, since it does not have any ax to grind and tells the story very much as it actually happened. If you want an ideology free book on how the Middle East we know today was formed, this is the book with which to begin. Christopher Catherwood, historian, teacher and author of CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS AND ISLAMIC RAGE (Zondervan, 2003)
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This is one of the best non-fiction books I've read. Fromkin does what I wish every history writer would do; introduces only essential characters, and explains their relevance to the story he is telling. It covers a wide swath of Middle Eastern history, and doesn't attempt to tell the "whole" story. But what it does tell is a fascinating and essential prelude to understanding current Middle East problems, and western reactions to them.
Rating:
Summary: Let's start at the beginning...
Review: This book is a fascinating journey into roots of the current problems in the middle east. "A Peace to End All Peace" reads like a fiction novel and is very concise. Fromkin helps to explain in detail the great maneuvering and the politics that resulted in the downfall of the last great Islamic empire, and the breaking up of its territories, the effects of which can be seen to this day: The israeli-palestinian conflict, and the rise of the now corrupt house of saud which led to 9/11 to name a few. Get this book if you wish to get a better understanding of why people are blowing themselves up in the middle east, and also some of the intrigues and conflicts in one of the greatest wars in the history of this planet.
|
