Sowing the Wind : The Mismanagement of the Middle East 1900-1960 - Softcover

In a long and distinguished writing career, John Keay's most recent works have been on south and south-east Asia, most notably Last Post: The End of Empire, India, A History and the bestselling The Great Arc. He is married to the author Julia Keay and together they complied the 'awesome' Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland. They have four children and live in the Highlands.

'A witty, thoroughly informed and agreeably detached account of a subject both serious and extremely interesting ! John Keay's sweeping, breathless but always entertaining and acute study of the West's various interventions in the region is going to be a great help, and it quietly justifies its title by quietly suggesting that the net result of these interventions in the course of the 20th Century was less than productive' -- Spectator, Peter Hensher 20030606 'Using a wealth of finely selected memoirs and anecdotes, to a remarkable degree John Keay pulls off the impossible. While always alert to the seriousness of his subject matter, he nonetheless manages to evoke countless individuals, some well known (T E Lawrence, General Allenby), some only half-remembered (Gertrude Bell, Glubb Pasha), and some the preserve of specialists (A T Wilson, Loy Henderson). Albert Einstein and E M Forster are among many who put in guest appearances. Keay repeatedly joining up yesterday's dots with missing sand lines' -- Sunday Times 20030622 'John Keay's new history of the British in the modern Middle East is the best for almost 40 years' -- Guardian 20030621 'Keay's book is exemplary in its commitment to telling the story of Western -- during this period, primarily British -- intervention in the Middle East' -- John McTernan, Scotland on Sunday 20030608 'An impressive account ! an excellent synthesis of the vast body of work on how the west planted the seeds of the Middle East's conflicts. Keay excels at explaining the broader political context of events' -- New Statesman 20030608 'John Keay has created a brilliant narrative that mixes sound historical judgement with an ability to see through self-serving cant and has assembled an extraordinary cast of characters' -- Glasgow Sunday Herald 20030608 'Grand in scope and notable in achievement ! with erudition and wit, Keay provides as impartial an introduction to the complex Arab-Israeli relationship as possible' -- LA Times 20031001 'Offers an insight both enthralling and scholarly' -- Traveller Magazine 20030701