Ever wonder how the boundaries were drawn of the Middle Eastern countries, with their confusingly entangled mix of sometimes warring tribes and overlapping religions? Are you curious how the shy Oxford scholar, Thomas Lawrence, went from being an archeologist excavating ruins for the British Museum to the flamboyant "Lawrence of Arabia"? If the Americans, William Yale and Rudolf McGovern, were really on a "pilgrimage" tour, why were they doing geological soundings near the Sea of Galilee? And what was their connection to Standard Oil? Why was German linguist Curt Profer, disgraced "Oriental secretary to the German Embassy in Cairo", traveling disguised as a Beduin and what was he saying inside tents to the Mesopotamian tribes? Did he still hold a grudge against the British who had destroyed his reputation and his career? Was ex-pat Romanian botanist (and Zionist), Aaron Aaronsohn, really mapping the geographic spread of "wild wheats in their historical settings" or did he have a greater interest in Ottoman troop deployments and military camps? Take your mind back to the times before WWI. What was "The Great Loot" and how did it affect the Middle East countries as we know them now?
These and many other questions will be answered as we read our fascinating core books: 1. (on spies and other odd characters) "Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East" by Scott Anderson and 2. (on diplomatic intrigues) "A Line in the Sand" by Sir James Barr.
Week 1: A brief review of the history of the Middle East - Playboys in the Holy Land and a Very Unusual Type
Week 2: Another and Another Nice Thing, To the Last Million
Week 3: A Despicable Mess, the Keepers of Secrets and Treachery
Week 4: The Battle Joined, The Man Who Would be Kingmaker, Neatly in the Void
Week 5: A Mist of Deceits, An Audacious Scheme, Aqaba
Week 6: Hubris, To The Flame, A Gathering Fury
Week 7: Solitary Pursuits, Damascus, Paris
Week 8: The Carve Up 1915- 1919
Week 9: Interwar Tensions 1920 - 1930
Weel 10: Interwar Tensions 1930 - 1939
Week 11: The Secret War 1940 - 1943
Week 12: The Secret War 1942 - 1945
Week 13: Exit 1945 -1949
Week 14: Was there any other way? A review of maps, historical and current, showing "climate, land use, population, religions, languages, oil, water, food, historical site, and various conflicts"
Core Book I: "Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East" by Scott Anderson. 2013, 485 pages
Core Book II: "A Line in the Sand, Britain, France, and the Struggle That Shaped the Middle East", Sir James Barr, 2011, 359 pages
"National Geographic Atlas of the Middle East, Second Edition: The Most Concise and Current Source on the World's Most Complex Region 2nd Edition" by National Geographic
https://www.ft.com/content/9279ad20-cd6c-11e0-b267-00144feabdc0