The Arabs: A History

An International Bestseller * A Financial Times, Economist, and Atlantic Best Book of the Year 

From a preeminent historian of the Middle East, the definitive history of the modern Arab world. 

“Outstanding, gripping, and exuberant.” ―Simon Sebag Montefiore, Financial Times  

In this definitive history of the modern Arab world, award-winning historian Eugene Rogan draws extensively on five centuries of Arab sources and texts to place the Arab experience in its crucial historical context. This landmark book covers the Arab world from North African through the Arabian Peninsula, exploring every facet of modern Arab history. Starting with the Ottoman conquests of the sixteenth century, Rogan follows the story of the Arabs through the era of European imperialism and the superpower rivalries of the Cold War to the present age of American hegemony, charting the evolution of Arab identity and the struggles for national sovereignty throughout. 

Rogan untangles recent geopolitical developments of the region to offer a groundbreaking and comprehensive account of the Middle East. The Arabs is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the modern Arab world.  

Eugene Rogan is professor of modern Middle Eastern history at the University of Oxford and the director of the Middle East Centre at St. Antony’s College, Oxford. The author of numerous books, including The Damascus Events and the internationally bestselling The Fall of the Ottomans, Rogan is the recipient of the Albert Hourani prize. He lives in Oxford, England.