The Struggle for Arab Independence
Riad el-Solh and the Makers of the Modern Middle East

This book pieces together the history of the Arab struggle for independence through the lives of those most directly involved.

Patrick Seale (Author)

9780521191371, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 March 2010

820 pages, 57 b/w illus. 6 maps
23.5 x 16 x 4.4 cm, 1.42 kg

'… an invaluable source for students and researchers, and of compelling interest to anyone who wants to know more about the Middle East.' The Muslim World Book Review

The Middle East, as we know it today, was shaped in the violent and tumultuous years of the first half of the 20th century. The roots of many of the conflicts and crises which afflict the region today can be traced back to this period of wars, high drama and the cavalier re-drawing of maps. Patrick Seale, a leading historian of the region, tells the story of the making of the modern Middle East through the life of Riad el-Solh, a Lebanese politician who grew into the outstanding Arab statesman of his time. Based on British and French archives, and on numerous interviews, the book pieces together the history of the Arab struggle for independence through the lives of those most directly involved. It is an invaluable resource for students and researchers, and of compelling interest to anyone who wants to know more about the Middle East.

1. Grandee of the empire
2. An Ottoman childhood
3. Education in revolution
4. In the shadow of the gallows
5. Faysal's false dawn
6. Fugitive from the French
7. The great Syrian revolution
8. A hero's return
9. Man of the people
10. Riad el-Solh, Zionism and the Hajj Amin al-Husayni
11. Ben Gurion and the Arabs
12. The making of a Lebanese patriot
13. Competing identities: the battle for men's minds
14. The politics of the street
15. The changing fortunes of war
16. Rashid 'Ali and 'Operation Exporter'
17. Riad Bey and general spears
18. The electoral challenge
19. The compromise of the national pact
20. The decisive battle
21. Painful awakening
22. Goodbye to the French
23. Master of the local scene
24. The unwanted war
25. The challenge from the revolutionaries
26. Murder in Amman.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1]