I first heard of this book in an article about understanding the anger and resentment in the Middle East - it listed the book as recommended by Madeleine Albright and Pres. Clinton. I kept it in the back of my mind and then it arrived as a gift from a friend who recently visit Turkey. Figuring that it would take a little time to read, I started it and planned to read other things along with it to lighten the mood. Little did I know I would be sucked in so quickly; thinking about what was going to happen next and how it would result in the Middle East we know and fear today.
It is truly amazing to me the number of intelligence mistakes made, and really at what point do you stop calling it "intelligence". The number of people with different objectives, each one playing the other for their own gain, and that is just the people in the British foreign office! Once you add in the intrigues of the people of the Ottoman Empire, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Greece, it is a wonder that any policy was accomplished.
I was frequently talking about this book with others around me - family, friends, co-workers, people on the plane. The writing is engaging and covered a period of history I was unfamiliar with, since we always seemed to end the school year just as WWI was beginning. This book covers the Middle East only and now I am interested to learn the Western Front side of WWI. I know the horror and despair caused by trench warfare directly related to the decisions made in the Middle East and I want to know more.
An excellent book that I will keep in the library. I can imagine reading it again - there is just so much I missed the first time through.
1 comment:
I really need to pick this one up. Soon!
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