Turning Points in Middle Eastern History

By: Eamonn Gearon, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Eamonn Gearon

The Middle East is a critically important area of our world. And, with its current prominence in international affairs, media images of the Middle East reach us on a daily basis. Much media coverage, however, is incomplete at best, failing to take account of either the complexities or the historical background of this pivotal region. For most of us, the real story of the Middle East remains untold. What made this crucial geopolitical area what it is today? In coming to terms with the present and future of the Middle East, an understanding of its history is not only highly valuable but essential.

Now, the 36 lectures of Turning Points in Middle Eastern History unfurl a breathtaking panorama of history, exploring a 1,300-year window from the rise of the warrior prophet Muhammad to the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. Each lecture focuses on a specific moment that changed the direction of events or the narrative of history.

You'll witness the Battle of Karbala, where Muhammad's heirs - the Sunni and Shia - split once and for all. You'll discover the wonders of the Islamic Golden Age and marvel at the superlative advances in astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and literature - and the preservation of classical Greek and Roman wisdom - that unfolded in global centers of learning such as Baghdad, Cairo, and Cordoba. You'll follow the empire building of the Persian Safavids, the Egyptian Mamluks, and the Ottomans, among others.

The breakup of the Ottoman Empire yielded most of the modern states of the Middle East. The far-reaching impacts of its rise and fall, plus the long-lasting influence of the 18th-century Saud-Wahhab Pact between a desert ruler and a religious reformer, creating today's Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, are two more expressions of how the past suffuses the present. The stories you'll discover here are as dazzling as anything in the Arabian Nights and are all the more astonishing for being true.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2016 The Great Courses (P)2016 The Teaching Company, LLC

Magisterial and engrossing from beginning to end

The professor has a good delivery pretty entertaining, clearly speaks Arabic fluently, and kept the subject interesting from the beginning of the course to the end. I liked the idea of it being organized around certain turning points, as it mitigated the monotony of a purely chronological approach. I never lost interest and I feel that now I have a good working knowledge of the history of the Middle East. One of the more enjoyable classes I've taken for the great courses.

Ecellent

Great summary of history of the middle eastern history. Fantastic job in identifying the turning points.

Outstanding and Hight Informative

This is my first review of a book and I find myself compelled to write one out of gratitude to the author for putting together such an important and impartial account of the history of the Middle East. I live and work in the region and so many things did not make sense until I read about the roots of it all. I will listen to this gem of a course again and again for sure.

Great course

I enjoyed listening to Turning Points in the Middle East.
The author did a fantastic job dividing the course into turning points. This structure made it easy to remember key dates, names and events.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested to learn about the Middle East. The 18 hours flew by .

Depth of knowledge and great insights

Mr Gearon is clearly a thoughtful and knowledgeable man who understands the region he discusses well.

His lectures helped me to understand a very complex region with an intricate history, better..