Reddit reviews Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East

Short answer: no.

Slightly longer answer: The radicalization of Islam in the Middle East ties into the division of the region by the western powers after WWI, and further during the Cold War, when the U.S. (not only, but in particular) supported the rise to power of radical religious figures in opposition to communist/leftist parties & figures who might be sympathetic to the Soviet Union, and therefore potentially threaten U.S./U.K. access to oil in the region. This included aiding in the over-throwing of democratically elected governments in favor of autocratic but U.S./U.K.-favored leaders - most notably the U.S.-led 1953 coup d'etat in Iran, when Mohammad Mosaddegh was overthrown. The 1978 Iranian Revolution began as a popular uprising against the Shah who replaced him.

For more extensive reading on the subject:

Inventing Iraq by Toby Dodge (I have some major issues with Dodge's conclusions post 9/11, but the historical analysis that makes up the majority of the book is solid)

Spies in Arabia by Priya Satia, and Lawrence in Arabia are good histories of imperial ambition during the WWI period and its after-effects

Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillan for the political maneuvering of the Western powers

A Peace to End All Peace by David Fromkin

I also recommend Edward Said, if you're looking for cultural analysis as well as history

Highly recommend this as a very approachable "for-the-layperson" history of TE and the region during the same era that Seven Pillars covers. https://www.amazon.com/Lawrence-Arabia-Deceit-Imperial-Making/dp/0307476413

I highly recommend Lawrence In Arabia to anyone who is interested in the subject. It's one hell of a story.

That's gold! I've heard the movie is amazing, but which book are you talking about? A cursory google search turns up this guy: http://www.amazon.com/Lawrence-Arabia-Deceit-Imperial-Making/dp/0307476413

But somehow that doesn't strike me as the book you mean.

Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East

https://www.amazon.com/Lawrence-Arabia-Deceit-Imperial-Making/dp/0307476413

eh. I actually was just reading this section in Lawrence in Arabia last night. Yes, US oil had something to do with Saudi Arabia's success but the creation of the country, the blind eye to Wahabbism, the promotion of their leadership above other concerns falls pretty squarely on Britain. Which, in a round about way, is also on France since they insisted on making such a complete clusterfuck of the Middle East during WW1 that Britain had few other options but to make that sort of deal.

SoCo and the US government's involvement wasn't particularly important until later. I mean, the region was oil rich, it was going to be powerful one way or another, but handing it to extremists (or rather a family backed by extremists) was a mistake very much on the European allies.

This has been mentioned by myself and others in this thread, but Lawrence in Arabia by Scott Anderson is a wonderful account not just of Lawrence, but the whole ordeal -

https://www.amazon.com/Lawrence-Arabia-Deceit-Imperial-Making/dp/0307476413

It uses journal entries, correspondence, and interviews to go into what Lawrence was thinking at different points during the conflict, and it's so engrossing that it almost reads like fiction.

I read a pretty interesting book about Lawrence called "Lawrence In Arabia" by Scott Anderson. It offers an interesting view of the man.
https://www.amazon.com/Lawrence-Arabia-Deceit-Imperial-Making/dp/0307476413

> In fact a common criticism of the allies is that they didn't keep their promise to their Arab allies who lead the revolt against the Ottomans (see the Hussein-McMahon correspondence).

Lawrence was so mad he refused to accept a Knighthood personally from the King.

http://www.amazon.com/Lawrence-Arabia-Deceit-Imperial-Making/dp/0307476413

This is a really interesting book on the subject.

Edit. Nevermind! I read WW2 not WW1. There is a great book called Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East (https://www.amazon.com/Lawrence-Arabia-Deceit-Imperial-Making/dp/0307476413) if you want to read more about Standard Oil and WW1

> My grandad wrote in his diary during WWI: 'Off I go again. Wherever in the world you find the US military, you will find Standard Oil.' We have been global fascists for a long ass time.

WW2 was a little different than the banana wars that the US had previously fought in though - the Axis powers WERE an existential threat to Europe and potentially even America. Standard Oil may have benefited from the post war environment but the US was fighting for a lot more than just economic advantage.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_Wars for those not familiar with the term.

I'm not huge on nonfiction, but I loved Lawrence in Arabia.
Reading about influential people/events is really fun and feels more productive than reading fantasy (but man, do I love fantasy).

Hello! I'll suggest the following:

1. Please watch the 8-part Israel/Palestine for Critical Thinkers. It is a good starting point, detailing the genesis of the conflict (it stops short before WWII, though).
   
   
2. Read the following books:
   
   

• Tom Segev's One Palestine, Complete: Jews and Arabs Under the British Mandate
  
• Jonathan Schneer's The Balfour Declaration: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
  
• Scott Anderson's Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East
  
• James Barr's A Line in the Sand: The Anglo-French Struggle for the Middle East, 1914-1948, and
  
• Hillel Cohen's Year Zero of the Arab-Israeli Conflict 1929 and Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, 1917-1948.
  
  I hope this will help you understand the conflict. Have a enlightening read~!
  

Hmm, perhaps what is needed is a Netflix mini-series?

Seriously, it would be an awesome watch.

This guy was the original Indiana Jones before all his famous exploits during WWI. He also came up with the idea of the PT boat after the war.

I also highly recommend another excellent book, Lawrence in Arabia, an excellent companion to the Korda book and Seven Pillars of course.

No, I mean Lawrence In Arabia which has much to do with Iran, Persia, and gives a very detailed account of how the Middle East has been shaped to what we see today.

If OP was looking for Persian history going back to the 1st century, then the book wont be of any importance, but if OP wanted more modern/current historical context, then Scott Anderson's book on T.E. Lawrence is as good as it gets for understanding much of what we see going on today.

I read a book last year called Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East that was really good.

http://www.amazon.com/Lawrence-Arabia-Deceit-Imperial-Making/dp/0307476413
I am about 3/4 of the way done with this book. I am loving it so far and have learned quite a bit. It is pretty easy to read.