Kingmakers: The Invention of the Modern Middle East

I eventually abandoned this book, but I read quite a bit of it.

What I came to appreciate is that history of the Middle East and history of the British Empire are wildly intertwined. The British were all over that region, and when they left, they made some attempts to split it up, but then left power vacuums that got filled.

…and then oil happened. And suddenly the region was wildly strategic.

The writing style of the book isn’t great. It tends to drone on and on. The writers just weren’t able to make it interesting. It seemed like what your old, stuffy British neighbor would sound like if he launched into a long history of something you didn’t care about (I’m reminded of the character of Higgins from Magnum P.I.).

While I eventually quit the book, it wasn’t a total loss. I did learn quite a bit.