In 1914, the European powers were inexorably sliding towards war, dragging the entire Middle East into the vortex of this destructive conflict. In his book, Eugene Rogan presents the history of the First World War, revealing the consequences it led to in the Middle East and the decisive - but little known to us - role that the region played in it. The famous British historian vividly and fascinatingly talks about the political intrigues and military battles that unfolded in the Ottoman lands from the Gallipoli Peninsula to Arabia. Unlike the trench warfare on the Western Front, the fighting in the Middle East was dynamic and unpredictable. Before military fortunes turned to the Entente powers, the Turks inflicted crushing defeats on them on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Mesopotamia and Palestine. The post-war settlement led to the division of the Ottoman Empire and laid the foundation for those irreconcilable contradictions that to this day tear the Arab world apart. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the history of the First World War and the phenomenon of today's Middle East.