A new history of the modern Middle East from 1900 to the present, by New York Times bestselling author of Jerusalem and The Romanovs

Renowned historian Simon Sebag Montefiore wades into the ideological battles and geopolitical tensions of the Middle East, with a poignant message: That to fathom the present, we must look to the past—to the last one hundred and twenty-five years that forged the Middle East in the wake of World War I and the consequences of colonial design on people of unique religions, ethnicities, and ideologies.

The Cauldron is a survey of the region’s complexity, richness, and cosmopolitanism through nineteen countries from the Atlantic to the Gulf, Morocco to Iran, and everything in between. It covers the emergence of modern-day Egypt and the formation of Israel, the rise of an independent Syria, and the perpetual conflict over land in Palestine. Montefiore brings to life a cast of titans and tyrants who clash in the tournament for power. Victories are bloody, but no one wins for long: crowns and kingdoms, cities and regimes rise and fall.

Montefiore brings his signature style of voice-driven history that made Jerusalem a national bestseller. He probes at the narratives we have inherited about the formation of countries—more the result of cobbled-together states, the follies and crimes of imperial rule and superpower intervention, than the sacrosanct decree of cultural borders. As the effects of slapdash nation-making continue to play out in the most fraught region of the world, The Cauldron is a new chronicle to redefine our understanding through the prism of the not-so-distant past.