Youssef M. Choueiri is Reader in Islamic Studies at the University of Manchester. He has lectured on Middle Eastern history in the US and Australia, as well as in the UK. His previous publications include Islamic Fundamentalism (1997), Arab Nationalism (Blackwell Publishing, 2000), and Modern Arab Historiography (2003).

A Companion to the History of the Middle East offers a fresh account of the multifaceted and multi-layered history of this region.

Comprising 26 newly commissioned essays by leading international scholars, this companion treats the Middle East as four differentiated political units - Iran, Turkey, Israel, and the Arab world. While focused primarily on the modern and contemporary periods, it also includes a number of chapters on classical and pre-modern themes. Topics are situated within a chronological framework and include the rise of Islam, the militarization of Islam under a wide variety of dynasties, the commercial and industrial revolutions, colonial rule, and the struggle for independence.

A final section highlights issues that have preoccupied historians in the second half of the twentieth century, and are most likely to gain momentum well into the twenty-first. These range from oil and urban growth to the role of women and democratic human rights.