A Peace to End All Peace
by David Fromkin · first published 1989
67% recommend22% neutral11% critical
Why HN recommends it
Detailed history of how the former Ottoman lands were divided after World War I, covering the Balfour Declaration and Weizmann's role; recommended for readers wanting background on the modern Middle East.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
How the modern Middle East emerged from decisions made by the Allies during and after World War I.
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…the war. And the seeds for the recent and ongoing trouble in the Middle East were sown in the division of the former Ottoman Empire immediately after the war, as described in David Fromkin's book, "A Peace to end all Peace." (best history-book title ever!) https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/a-peace-to-end-all-peace-creat...
on “The German front in rare color photos, 1914-1918” ↗A good book on why the middle east is the way it is, is A Peace to end all Peace by David Fromkin. There certainly isn’t just one mistake that caused all the trouble.
on “Declassified documents show why the US and the USSR came close to war in 1973” ↗The fall of the Ottoman Empire, while utterly unsurprising as it had been the sick man of Europe for centuries, was far more consequential, as documented in David Fromkin's master opus A Peace to End all Peace.
on “There Once Was an Empire” ↗> "It is essentially lost to history" In practice, this is clearly true. But it is not for lack of trying, at least on some people's parts. I recently read 'A Peace to End All Peace', David Fromkin, which goes in depth into the background here, including Weizmann's role and the making of the Balfour declaration. A passage from the book's conclusion has stuck with me: "It took Europe…
on “The t-test was invented at the Guinness brewery” ↗You might want to check the book by Fromkin, Peace to End All Peace (1989)
…friendly relations with Israel. The US also ... sort of "inherited" the British Empire after WWII, and Saudi was very much a part of the actions of those within the Empire. Again, I can't recommend "A Peace To End All Peace" enoughly.
on “U.S. Discloses Saudi Holdings of Treasuries for First Time” ↗WWII killed 4% of all humans on the planet. Perspective, please... For perspective on the Middle East, there is always "A Peace to End All Peace."
on “U.S. Army fudged its accounts by trillions of dollars, auditor finds” ↗ISIS is anything but an ephemeral problem. If you'll read "A Peace to End All Peace" it should become obvious that it was a near-inevitability. Most or many of the nations of the former Ottoman Empire were made up out of whole cloth by colonial powers in the region. These were often…
on “Google's plan to deter aspiring ISIS recruits” ↗…more "questionable democratic credentials" than Russia." This is simply prima facie false. I understand not understanding the context to "invading countries" but really? There's a really nice book - "A Peace to End All Peace" and it should explain some of what you may object to. Before this round of festivities, the US was unsteady on its feet as the domain of the Cold Warriors. The 2003 fun was as much about the U.N. process…
on “What I Learned About Julian Assange While Working Alongside Him” ↗A Peace to End All Peace is good too
on “Saudi Arabia Allows Women to Travel Without a Male Guardian's Permission” ↗…the British Empire ( and later the US ) as anything. Of course, the primary thing is the failure of the Ottoman Empire, with the death-blow by the Kemalists in 1920-1922. There's literally a book - "A Peace To End All Peace" ( ISBN-13: 978-0805088090 )dedicated to numbing your brain with a thousand blows to show this. Technology seems to be at odds with many people's sense of what is human and with human identity. It's…
on “The Moral Economy of Tech” ↗…friend" as started by the British before and around WWI. A short, but wrong, answer is "Because of T.E. Lawrence and journalism". It's a slog ( I didn't actually even finish it ) but there is always "A Peace to End All Peace" ( ISBN-13: 978-0805088090 . I grew up in oil business country, and one of my high school friends had a massive picture of his Dad shaking hands with, I think King Faisal in the living room.
on “Saudi Arabia Warns of Economic Fallout If Congress Passes 9/11 Bill” ↗A friend of mine recommended A Peace to End All Peace, but I haven't read it yet. https://www.amazon.com/Peace-End-All-Ottoman-Creation/dp/080... Your idle curiosity has already yielded an important insight: the situation is complex. I think if everyone…
on “Why Jewish History Is So Hard to Write” ↗That's one of the big points made in 'A Peace to End all Peace', I just felt my comment was too long as is. Here's how Fromkin puts it, edited down for length: Some of the disputes, like those elsewhere in the world, are about rulers or frontiers, but what is typical…
on “The t-test was invented at the Guinness brewery” ↗…up on those times. The reading list, so far: 'Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East', Soctt Anderson 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom', T.E. Lawrence 'A Peace to End All Peace', David Fromkin
on “Lawrence of Arabia, Paul Atreides, and the roots of Frank Herbert's Dune (2021)” ↗