This is the first introductory textbook on the modern Middle East to foreground the urban, rural, cultural and women's histories of the region over its political and economic history. Distancing himself from more modernizationist approaches, the author is concerned with the ideological question of whom we investigate in the past rather than how we investigate the past. This is a ground-breaking contribution to a more comprehensive view of the region in a post-September 11th world. Ilan Pappe begins his narrative at the end of the First World War with the Ottoman heritage, and concludes at the end of the twentieth century with the political discourse of Islam. "The" "Modern Middle East": - includes a carefully argued introduction which discusses the methodology used in the textbook - provides a thematic and comparative approach to the region, helping students to see the peoples of the Middle East and the developments that affect their lives as part of a larger world - includes insights gained from new historiographical trends and takes a critical approach to conventional state- and nation-centred historiographies - includes case studies, debates, maps, photos, an up-to-date bibliography and a glossarial index. Accessible and original, "The Modern Middle East" will be essential reading for introductory students on history or politics courses as well as for journalists and those working in the region.