From Cairo to Istanbul - The Arab challenge to Ottoman rule - The Egyptian empire of Muhammad 'Ali - The perils of reform - The first wave of colonialism : North Africa - Divide and rule : World War I and the postwar settlement - The British empire in the Middle East - The French empire in the Middle East - The Palestine disaster and its consequences - The rise of Arab nationalism - The decline of Arab nationalism - The age of oil - The power of Islam - After the Cold War.