The Modern Middle East: From Imperialism to Freedom, 1800-1958.

• Author: Perry, Glenn E.

Reviewed by Glenn E. Perry

Emory C. Bogle, an assistant professor of history at the University of Richmond, has written an informative textbook on the history of the modern Middle East. It will take its place alongside other such works by Richard Mitchell and Lois Aroian and William Cleveland, although certain oddities and defects are likely to undermine its appeal.

The book possesses several unique pedagogical features. One is the extensive historical timelines - three to ten pages listing events in chronological order - at the beginning of each chapter. Students will find these useful, although one does not have to look long to find room for quibbling about the events selected for inclusion.

The author begins the modern period in 1800 rather than the usual 1774, 1789, or 1798. This is not a problem, as he does not literally start with events in that year (and in fact the treatment of General Bonaparte, whose troops had not left Egypt in 1800, is scanty). Only minimal background material is worked in.

Another oddity is the way the author ends his account in 1958 (actually, he includes a 30-page chapter - a postscript, as it were - on more recent developments). The author explains that although things later turned sour, 1958 was the time when "Apparent Freedom" was realized, with President Gamal Abdul Nasser and the forces of Arab unity on the ascendancy. Indeed, those were heady times for the Arabs and those who sympathized with their desire for unity, but it is at least an exaggeration to say that the Iraqi Revolution of the year "seemed" already to have put "the Arabs finally in control of their own affairs" (p. 348).

But after treating the upsurge of Arab nationalism under President Abdul Nasser this way, the author then strangely portrays Iran - where foreign forces had recently installed their client ruler and overthrown the symbol of national liberation - as now similarly being free:

By 1958, Iran seemed in control of its affairs under a benevolent Shah, who had a new source of advice, protection, and technology from the United States. Few feared this new state's participation in Iranian affairs, since it enjoyed no history of pursuing imperialistic goals in the region. By 1958 Iranians had every reason to believe that, after a century and a half of foreign domination, they, like the Arabs, were free to determine their own fate. (p. xxi)

Professor Bogle's hang-up about the wonderful Shah - or at least one who seemed to be wonderful...