The Multiple Identities of the Middle East

In this award-winning book, Bernard Lewis ("a historian of unrivaled skills, authority, and literary grace" -- The New York Times) traces the rapid evolution of the identities of the Middle Eastern peoples, from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 to contemporary clashes between old and new allegiances. Lewis shows how, during the twentieth century, imported Western ideas such as liberalism, fascism, socialism, patriotism, and nationalism have transformed Middle Easterners' ancient notions of community, their self-perceptions, and their aspirations.