Rating: 
Summary: An excellent one-volume analysis
Review: Mr. Fromkin takes on a formidable task -- covering an issue of significant complexity, such as the formation of many of the modern nations in the Middle East -- but pulls it off in style. His book achieves a nice blend of factual information (based on a wealth of background research) with fluid prose, making the book as informative as it is easy to read! Having come from that reagion myself, I was nicely suprised to learn new details, yet I was even more excited about Mr. Fromkin's discussion on the British political approach (an ignorance) about the region, which is painted in vivid color through discussions about the major political figures in the landscape. I am hard pressed to find a book on the subject with similar depth and readability, so I highly recommend it!
Rating: 
Summary: A bit off mark
Review: The book is off mark from it's stated intent, the author wanted to center the book around Winston Churchill, but ended up doing it around Mark Sykes, and therein lies it's problem. Very much of an English account of the history, although exposing the emptiness of the policies and thought behind them from political as well as military men of the empire, the book fails to tell a complete story. Still a readable book, though one will have to read other sources.
Rating:
Summary: Good start, details in the wrong place, sources limited
Review: While this is a very good start in understanding those 6-8 years that decided the fate of the Middle East, I believe the book fell short in giving me a complete picture. Lots of the details pertain to battles, and while sometimes relevant, it felt too much like a typical military book and not the geopolitical history I was expecting. The most glaring fault, as I see it, is that Fromkin almost entirely relies on British sources of information. That's not to say he's pro-British--he's quite critical of the British. It's just that it would have been nice to hear about, to give just one context, treaty negotiations using memoirs and material from the French, Russian, German, Ottoman and Arab sides. Instead, all we get are the Brits. The book should really be prefaced as a history of Britain and the Middle East and not so all-encompassing that the jacket makes the book out to be. BUT, I think people interested in this part of world history, will still get much out of it.
Rating:
Summary: An important piece in understanding the Mideast
Review: This books uses a wealth of material, including some that is newly discovered, to detail how the western powers divided up the Middle East at the end of WWI. Besides insight into the decisions that created modern disputes over boundaries there is much more. It gives insight into the causes of both WWI and WWII, the Russian revolution, the Ottoman empire, the British Empire, Winston Churchill, Zionism and much more. The area is too complex for a single book to untangle the relationships, but this book is essential to begin the task.
Rating: 
Summary: A Guide to the Middle East Quagmire
Review: This is a marvelous historical narrative of how we got to where we are in the Middle East quagmire. Beginning a few years before and ending a few years after WWI, Fromkin pieces together the mosaic of the imperialistic strategy of the British, French and Russians to carve up the Ottoman empire at the end of the war. The creation of Palestine, Syria, Lebannon, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia are succinctly explained. Eventhough there is a certain amount of repetition in the narrative, I found it a useful memory aid. My only problem with the book is his belittling the injustice suffered by the native Palestinians as a result of the Balfour Declaration's commitment to a homeland for the Jews on the same lands.
Rating:
Summary: the aftermath of ww1
Review: this book in itself outlines the failures of the british goverment and the allies during and after the great war. i would advise this as necessary reading for those who wish to study how "...not to do things..." It is already hard for us to place into context the present world situation .as confusing as present conclusions are i ask this question , "can we draw conclusions form what is written in this great work, and what is being thought of today". it fears me to think that this prevalent mindset dates back to the termination of ww1, a mindset of ignorance and failed diplomacy. lets hope something is finally learned from the dabacle called the versailles treaty.
Rating:
Summary: An obscure set of events with great consequence today
Review: September 11, 1922: The effective date of the League of Nations' Palestine Mandate that established formal British control over the area that today includes Israel and Jordan. The Mandate was part of the process that attempted to cement Allied (i.e., Western) control over areas lost by the Islamic Ottoman Empire. Coincidence? Probably. But when I first heard of this fact, my curiosity stirred. What was the process that created the modern Middle East; what was the role of the Western Powers; who were the players...and how is all this relevant today? Enter "A Peace to End All Peace". Written with a novelist's sense of pacing and a historian's eye for detail, David Fromkin lucidly relates the twists and turns that led to the creation of the today's Middle East: the countries of Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. It is essentially a chronological narrative, but it bobs and weaves among the various events of 1914-1922. What could have been a dry recitation of facts is enlivened by many individual sagas -- of larger than life players at the peak of their game (Woodrow Wilson, David Lloyd George); up and comers (Churchill, Lenin, Stalin) and the lesser known British and French bureaucrats who set their countries on a collision course with destiny. The tale of the "real" Laurence of Arabia is included, as is the astonishing story of how a monkey's bite led to the deaths of a quarter million people -- at least in Churchill's opinion. I do think there are two shortcomings that deserve mentioning. First and foremost, there is precious little linkage to today's Middle East. After spending so much time learning about the creation of these new countries and their rulers (many of whom were essentially handpicked by the British), I was disappointed that there was no summary of what had happened in subsequent years. That is not to say that today's relevance of 1914-1922 can not be deduced; only that Fromkin leaves it to the reader to fill in the blanks. A smaller fault is that many of the goings-on at the League of Nations - including the development of the boundaries and the mandates - occur off stage. Bernard Lewis, the famed Middle East scholar at Princeton, has remarked that leaders of Islamic countries (or movements) often use historical allusions with confidence because of the shared long-view of history known to most in the Muslim world. It's safe to say many in the West (I include myself) are not as well versed on the history of the region. "A Peace to End All Peace" is a rewarding way to catch up.
Rating:
Summary: Focused, detailed, sketchy
Review: Fromkin's take on the roots of the current Middle Eastern conflict, aptly described by previous reviewers, is both formidable and sketchy. His approach is to tack a series of essays about individuals and events together in a lose framework that will be tremendously satisfying to the intuitive who likes to draw his or her own conclusions, but will be mildly disorienting to those who like to have perspectives made more directly clear. It is an easy read if one takes it one step at a time, but it leaves one with the difficult task of integrating all of the information that Fromkin provides. Within the essays, Fromkin is somewhat inconsistant in his approach. At times he provides highly satisfying direct reference to original source material and at other times he draws undocumented conclusions about events which could potentially be based on the opinion of some unknown source or perhaps his own. So, while this is a tremendously satisfying book, I am still left with questions regarding the validity of Fromkin's basic thesis -- but his fine treatment of this topic leaves me with a pressing interest in reading more, which is perhaps the highest complement I can pay.
Rating:
Summary: Informative but conains more recounting than analysis
Review: "A Peace to End All Peace" is David Fromkin's detailed account of political and military events from the turn of the century to 1922 that ultimately created the modern Middle East. While I enjoyed Fromkin's admirable recounting of key players and events, I was disappointed by the book's narrow focus and surprising lack of analysis. A superb historian in many ways, Fromkin evidently believed that the details of this colorful period and location would largely explain themselves. As a result, the reader is left with a wealth of interesting facts about this period in Middle Eastern history, but little analysis.
For this kind of perspective, one is probably better off reading books such as Karen Armstrong's "The Battle for God". Despite such shortcomings, "A Peace to End All Peace" remains a superb read. Fromkin provides a lucid and colorful portrait of the priniciple players including Churchill, Enver, Attaturk, and others. I was especially fascinated with Fromkin's sympathetic portrait of Turkey's surprising military success throughout most of the First World War. Under provisioned, and technologically behind, Turkey may have set the first modern example of an underdeveloped Eastern nation using politics, ingenuity, and brilliant tactics to fend off a more powerful Western enemy.
Rating:
Summary: A Penetrating Analysis of a Pivotal Middle East Period
Review: When I was amassing research in connection with writing my Middle East historical work, "Struggle for the Holy Land," I found Fromkin's book exceptionally helpful in comprehending the crucial period of the First World War, when the curtain was rung down on Turkey's Ottoman Empire. "A Peace to End All Peace" is a highly readable historical account of the era of T.E. Lawrence and his efforts to secure freedom for the Arab warriors with whom he fought side by side. Fromkin takes us from the battlelines into the government offices of the great powers, where the agreements were drawn up and strategies plotted for the post World War One period. Of great current significance is the valuable information about how the Balfour Declaration issued by the British Government declaring support for an eventual Jewish homeland came into being, along with the various interpretations resulting from its publication. The Paris Peace Conference is also covered in absorbing detail, with Fromkin focusing on the important issues involving the Middle East power structure in the post-war world. Discerning readers will note that the major questons debated remain with us today at the advent of a new millennium.
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