“The Arabs – a History”, Eugene Rogan
Book Review, Yevheniia Yefymova
1. Introduction
When one starts exploring the modern history of the Middle East, he will see the history of
the whole world spinning in front of him. The past 7 centuries of Arab history experienced
conflicts and peace, nationalism and imperialism, revolutions, and struggles for equality –
major themes that have shaped and defined the world we live in today. And if a reader would
want to understand the whole modern world, he can start by learning the history of the
Middle East, as it encompasses the diversity of almost every human. History, as well as the
present, of the Arabs, is a lesson to be learned by everyone – its struggles and transformations
can be redefined and compared even a thousand kilometers away from the native Arab lands.
“The Arabs – a history” by Eugene Rogan introduces us to this great multitude of stories and
narratives that have shaped the interaction of the Arabs and the West as of today. This review
is an attempt to understand lines that the author draws between the events of the past and the
consequences on the present geopolitical arena; what methods did he use to absorb the reader
into his book; and whether he was able to keep a balance between history and politics.
2. Review of the Author
“A lifelong student of the Middle East”1
“The Arabs, a history” is written by an American scholar and professor, Eugene Rogan, who
dedicated 40 years of his life to the Middle East. Rogan received his education at Columbia
University, studying Economics, and later at Harvard pursuing a degree in Middle Eastern
studies. Eugene Rogan studied and lived for 10 years in the region, specifically in Jordan and
Egypt, and for the last 30 years has been teaching Middle Eastern history and politics.
Professor Rogan speaks fluent English, Arabic, and Turkish, the knowledge of which helped
him extensively with the sources for "The Arabs". Mr. Rogan was taught by Albert Hourani,
who is also a prominent author and published “A History of the Arab Peoples” in 1991, at the
end of the Cold War.
1
Rogan, E.L. (2018) “Introduction,” in The Arabs: A history. London: Penguin Books, p. 16.
,Since 1992, Eugene Rogan is a professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at Oxford
University, a Fellow of St. Antony’s College, and Director of the Middle East Centre.
Besides his academic achievements, Professor Rogan has extensive experience working with
the media in the Middle East in the UK but also internationally, publishing and broadcasting.
However, he is most notable for his publishing career. His earliest books include “Frontiers
of the State in the Late Ottoman Empire”, for which he received the Albert Hourani Book
Award of the Middle East Studies Association of North America; “The War for Palestine:
Rewriting the History of 1948”. In 2017, he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy for
his major work "The Arabs: A History", 2009, which was named the best book of 2009, and
his newer book “The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East” named the
best book of 2015.
3. Book Overview
“The Arabs – a history” is a story of modern Arab history, starting in the 15 th century, and
briskly swooping through until the 19th and 20th centuries, which is its major concentration.
The book contains information on major events that have shaped the Arabs in the last 6
centuries, concentrating on its political theme rather than social or cultural. unlike many
previous historical accounts, “The Arabs” continues well into the 21 st century, including
crucial events that have shaped the Middle East till today. In his book, Eugene Rogan
attempts to create a shared narrative that unites people from Morocco to Oman, and from
Istanbul to Yemen. "The Arabs" produces a new understanding of the history of the region by
combining a diverse multi-ethnical population into people with a shared identity – Arabs.
“The Arabs – A History” was written in 2009, during a transformative age between the
Middle East and Western World. As the 20th century was ending, many wished for a
prosperous future throughout the world. However, the beginning of the 21 st century marked a
new geopolitical era – the West started to see its main threat in the Middle East, while the
Middle East saw it in the West. Terrorist attacks on 9/11 in New York, in 2004-2005 across
Europe, the war on terror – the tension between two worlds started only rising. At the same
time, the book falls in a very specific time of Arab-Western relations, as a man with 2 Arab
names, Barack Hussein Obama, was chosen to be the president of the United States. For
Eugene Rogan, it is a hope for a different America and a different engagement with the Arab
World. In this complex time in history, Eugene Rogan tries to embrace the conflict and
underline the main reasons for it, answering the major question for his audience - how did we
, all end up here? The book is primarily targeted toward Western readers, as it tries to reach
beyond the academic community. While Rogan's work is made to be read by the common
public, he also underlines that it is mostly for those who read news, are interested in
international affairs, and try to understand complicated historical processes that have shaped
the world we live in today.
Eugene Rogan's work has been praised by critics for its sweeping coherent story of Modern
Arab History balanced with Rogan's attention to detail and depth of the local sources. Eugene
Rogan, considering his western identity, understands how it might influence the writing of
Arab history. It prompts him to use a wide range of purely Arabic sources like memoirs and
journals in Arabic, throughout the social and geographical borders. In his book, Rogan
utilizes many sources of Ottoman and Arab statesmen, but also tradesmen, shopkeepers, and
scholars. It is the extent of Arab voices in his book, that makes "The Arabs – a history" a
major historical text from the perspective of the local population. From Alister Horn to Avi
Shlaïm the book has been described as a masterful, thorough, and well-written survey of the
entire sweep of modern Arab History and compared to other major works in the area such as
"The History of Arab Peoples" by Hourani.
4. Summary 2
August 1516 marks a new era of Arab history. The once powerful sword army of Mamluks
was defeated by an emerging gunpowder army from far lands of Anatolia, paving the way for
four centuries of Ottoman rule. It is at this moment in history, Eugene Rogan states, that "the
Arabs" lost control over their political destiny and had to negotiate their survival through
other people's rules, arguably till the present day. As summarized by Samir Kassir as "Arab
Malaise", the region became powerless both to domestic dictators and foreign interventions,
from Ottomans to Colonialists to the Cold War.
Before the defeat of 1516, the Mamluk Empire was ruling most of the Arab regions,
concentrating its power in Cairo. When the Ottomans came to rule, in some ways, there was a
little change, as the Ottomans just like the Mamluks were a Turkish-speaking Islamic Empire.
However, now it was ruled from a distant capital of Istanbul, which would become "a
political reality" of the Arab world.
2
Rogan, E.L. (2010) The Arabs: A history. London u.a.: Penguin Books.
