Atlantic False Prophets. British Leaders' Fateful Fascination with the Middle East from Suez to Syria Ashton Nigel

The final destruction of the Ottoman Empire - one of the great epics of the First World War, from bestselling historian Eugene Rogan • For some four centuries the Ottoman Empire had been one of the most powerful states in Europe as well as ruler of the Middle East. By 1914 it had been drastically weakened and circled by numerous predators waiting to finish it off. Following the Ottoman decision to join the First World War on the side of the Central Powers the British, French and Russians hatched a plan to finish the Ottomans off: an ambitious and unprecedented invasion of Gallipoli • Eugene Rogan's remarkable book recreates one of the most important but poorly understood fronts of the First World War. Despite fighting back with great skill and ferocity against the Allied onslaught and humiliating the British both at Gallipoli and in Mesopotamia (Iraq), the Ottomans were ultimately defeated, clearing the way for the making, for better or worse, of a new Middle East which has endured to the present

Upon victory in 1945, Britain still dominated the Middle East. But her motives for wanting to dominate this crossroads between Europe, Asia and Africa were changing. Where 'imperial security' - control of the route to India - had once been paramount, now oil was an increasingly important factor. So, too, was prestige. Ironically, the very end of empire made control of the Middle East precious in itself: on it hung Britain's claim to be a great power • Unable to withstand Arab and Jewish nationalism, within a generation the British were gone. But that is not the full story. What ultimately sped Britain on her way was the uncompromising attitude of the United States, which was determined to displace the British in the Middle East • Using newly declassified records and long-forgotten memoirs, including the diaries of a key British spy, James Barr tears up the conventional interpretation of this era in the Middle East, vividly portraying the tensions between London and Washington, and shedding an uncompromising light on the murkier activities of a generation of American and British diehards in the region, from the battle of El Alamein in 1942 to Britain's abandonment of Aden in 1967

A fascinating insight into the untold story of how British-French rivalry drew the battle-lines of the modern Middle East • In 1916, in the middle of the First World War, two men secretly agreed to divide the Middle East between them. Sir Mark Sykes was a visionary politician; Francois Georges-Picot a diplomat with a grudge. They drew a line in the sand from the Mediterranean to the Persian frontier, and together remade the map of the Middle East, with Britain’s 'mandates' of Palestine, Transjordan and Iraq, and France's in Lebanon and Syria • Over the next thirty years a sordid tale of violence and clandestine political manoeuvring unfolded, told here through a stellar cast of politicians, diplomats, spies and soldiers, including T. E. Lawrence, Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle

Robert Fisk’s bestselling eyewitness account of the events that have shaped the Middle East is alive with vivid reporting and incisive historical analysis • The history of the Middle East is an epic story of tragedy, betrayal and world-shaking events. It is a story that Robert Fisk has been reporting for over thirty years. His masterful narrative spans the most volatile regions of the Middle East, chronicling with both rage and compassion the death by deceit of tens of thousands of Muslims, Christians and Jews • Robert Fisk’s remarkable history is also the tale of a journalist at war – learning of the 9/11 attacks while aboard a passenger jet, reporting from a bombed-out Baghdad, interviewing Osama bin Laden – and of the courage and frustration of a life spent writing the first draft of history

Why Is the Middle East Entering a “New Era?” Is It a New Dawn? Is It a Setting Sun? • In the third decade of the twenty-first century, the Middle East is entering a new era. A multifaceted and intricate equilibrium will write the next chapter of this region. The new era we are entering is fraught with challenges and full of opportunities • The new era is both defined by, and a result of, a combination of ancient and modern, domestic, regional, and international processes. Iran and Turkey each strive to position themselves as the regional superpower. In parallel, the people of the region struggle to overcome increasing domestic challenges. These developments, combined with an escalating struggle over path, identity, and direction, could result in a new model of statehood in the Arab world

For decades, the question has haunted the Arab and Muslim world, heard across Iran and Syria, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and in the author's home country of Lebanon. Was it always so? When did the extremism, intolerance and bloodletting of today displace the region's cultural promise and diversity? • In "Black Wave", award-winning journalist and author Kim Ghattas argues that the turning point in the modern history of the Middle East can be located in the toxic confluence of three major events in 1979: the Iranian revolution; the siege of the Holy Mosque in Mecca; and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Before this year, Saudi Arabia and Iran had been working allies and twin pillars of US strategy in the region - but the radical legacy of these events made them mortal enemies, unleashing a process that transformed culture, society, religion and geopolitics across the region for decades to come

In this newly revised and updated edition, unlock the secrets of your dreamlife with the most comprehensive A-Z reference book on dream interpretation you'll ever find • Have you ever wondered what your dreams are trying to tell you? Now you can finally find out • Packed with fascinating information, The Dream Dictionary from A to Z is an extensive collection of the symbols that appear in your dreams and how to interpret what they mean for you • Dreams are universal, and every culture throughout history has tried to unlock the secrets of the unconscious mind through the interpretation of dreams. Understanding the unique meanings of dream symbols can help in the way you experience your waking everyday lives and even foretell the future • Designed to be kept right near your bed, The Dream Dictionary is organised from A to Z, so you can easily look up instant answers about the people, places, and ideas that you dreamed the night before

The Six-Day War was an extraordinary human drama. It swept up a generation of Israelis and Arabs whose children still cannot live peacefully in the world the war created. Today, Israel is the superpower of the region. It has nuclear weapons but has never been able to digest the land it swallowed in 1967. However big its army, it will never be at peace or feel secure until the future of this land is settled • Thirty-six years after the end of the six days of fighting, after thousands more deaths and the failure of years of negotiation to try to reach a political settlement, Israelis and Palestinians are fighting once again on the streets in the West Bank and Gaza. It is still a low-level conflict, but if another full-blown Middle East war breaks out, its roots will lie in those six days in June 1967

A unique new volume illuminating the philosophy of the ancient Greek and Roman Cynics • From their founding in the fifth century BC and for over 800 years, the Cynic philosophers sought to cure humanity of greed and vice with their proposal of living simply. They guaranteed happiness to their adherents through freedom of speech, poverty, self-sufficiency and physical hardiness. In this fascinating and completely new collection of Cynic writing through the centuries, from Diogenes and Hipparchia, to Lucian and the Roman emperor Julian, the history and experiences of the Cynic philosophers are explored to the full

Ece Temelkuran heard reasonable people in Britain say it the night of the Brexit vote • She heard reasonable people in America say it the night Trump's election was soundtracked by chants of "Build that wall" • She heard reasonable people in Turkey say it as Erdogan rigged elections, rebuilt the economy around cronyism, and labelled his opposition as terrorists • How to Lose a Country is an impassioned plea, a warning to the world that populism and nationalism don't march fully-formed into government; they creep. Award winning author and journalist Ece Temelkuran, identifies the early-warning signs of this phenomenon, sprouting up across the world from Eastern Europe to South America, in order to define a global pattern, and arm the reader with the tools to root it out

In this unprecedented book, palliative medicine pioneer Dr Kathryn Mannix explores the biggest taboo in our society and the only certainty we all share: death • `Impossible to read with dry eyes or an unaltered mindset' Sunday Times • A Sunday Times bestseller & book of the year • Shortlisted for the Wellcome book prize • Told through a series of beautifully crafted stories taken from nearly four decades of clinical practice, her book answers the most intimate questions about the process of dying with touching honesty and humanity. She makes a compelling case for the therapeutic power of approaching death not with trepidation but with openness, clarity and understanding • With the End in Mind is a book for us all: the grieving and bereaved, ill and healthy

All matter in the universe - including our own bodies - is made of a relatively small number of basic ingredients known as elements. From the lead used in Ancient Roman plumbing to the hydrogen that powers the stars, elements make up everything there is and has ever been • The Periodic Table of the chemical elements is one of the iconic achievements of recent times. This book tells its story, revealing how humankind has struggled to understand the nature and composition of matter. It traces a journey of experiment and discovery, from the dawn of science to the space age, revealing the elements and the individuals who recognized, named, and classified them • Topics include • exploring the nature of matter • defining and discovering the elements • atomic structure and the elements • finding and understanding periodicity • building the PeriodicTable • the search for more elements • Beautifully Illustrated throughout