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Kingmakers: Invention of the Modern Middle East

October 28, 2008
Karl E. Meyer writer, New York Times, Washington Post

Kingmakers is the story of how the modern Middle East came to be, told through the lives of the Britons and Americans who shaped it. Some are famous (Lawrence of Arabia and Gertrude Bell); others infamous (Harry St. John Philby, father of Kim); some forgotten (Sir Mark Sykes, Israel's godfather, and A. T. Wilson, the territorial creator of Iraq); some controversial (the CIA's Miles Copeland and the Pentagon's Paul Wolfowitz). All helped enthrone rulers in a region whose very name is an Anglo-American invention. Co-authors Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac elaborate on these ideas and take questions on their book. This event was a presentation of the Patron Network of Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21, in cooperation with The New York Society Library.

WNET
New York Society Library
Image of Kingmakers: The Invention of the Modern Middle East
Author: Karl E. Meyer, Shareen Blair Brysac
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. (2009)
Binding: Paperback, 528 pages
Image of The Dust of Empire: The Race for Mastery in The Asian Heartland
Author: Karl E. Meyer
Publisher: PublicAffairs (2004)
Binding: Paperback, 288 pages