Empire of Sand, Walter Reid
Empire of Sand, Walter Reid
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
Club: $14.99

Empire of Sand
How Britain Made the Middle East

Author: Walter Reid

Narrator: Derek Perkins

Unabridged: 14 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 08/16/2022


Synopsis

At the end of the First World War, Britain, and to a much lesser extent France, created the modern Middle East. The possessions of the former Ottoman Empire were carved up with scant regard for the wishes of those who lived there. From the outset, the project was destined to fail.

Conflicting and ambiguous promises had been made to the Arabs during the war but were not honored. Brief hopes for Arab unity were dashed, and a harsh belief in western perfidy persists to the present day. Britain was quick to see the riches promised by the black pools of oil that lay on the ground around Baghdad. When France, too, grasped their importance, bitter differences opened up and the area became the focus of a return to traditional enmity. The wartime allies came close to blows and then drifted apart, leaving a vacuum of which Hitler took advantage.

Working from both primary and secondary sources, Walter Reid explores Britain's role in the creation of the modern Middle East and the rise of Zionism from the early years of the twentieth century to 1948, when Britain handed over Palestine to United Nations' control. From the decisions that Britain made has flowed much of the instability of the region and of the worldwide tensions that threaten the twenty-first century; this thought-provoking book considers how much Britain was to blame.

About Walter Reid

Walter Reid studied at the universities of Oxford and Edinburgh. He has written a number of acclaimed books of military and political history, including Churchill: Under Friendly Fire and Empire of Sand: How Britain Made the Middle East.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Rodney on June 21, 2021

In this book, the author, Mr. Reid, reviews the history of Britain’s involvement in the Middle East, bookended by World War I and Israel’s Independence War. Over this time period, the following events happened: • The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in the war against the Entente Powers. • Bri......more

Goodreads review by R.L.M. on April 12, 2018

An essential and very calm telling of when Britain "accidentally" opened a third empire in Mesopotamia. I felt this book was invaluable given the time period and I learned quite a bit. From the mess of bureaucracies that surround this topic, Reid really cuts straight through it and makes it very exc......more

Goodreads review by Katie on October 02, 2018

Reading this was like trying to take a sip out of a fire hydrant. Reid pours dates, people, and rivers of political manipulations on his readers for a solid 353 pages without rest. Despite the overload and frenetic pace of the narrative, I found myself enjoying Reid's occasional ironic commentary on......more

Goodreads review by David Bisset on July 15, 2017

Powerful Middle East Exposition I learned much from the author's attempt to explain the relationship between Britain and this extraordinary part of the world. What a cast of characters were involved in the story! The final section deals with the mandate in Palestine. In the author's opinion Britain d......more

Goodreads review by Sherif on February 08, 2025

Walter Reid’s Empire of Sand is a fascinating and often infuriating look at Britain’s role in shaping the modern Middle East. He does a masterful job of showing how imperial ambition, arrogance, and short-sighted decision-making left a legacy of conflict that still lingers today. The book is rich wi......more