How did one extraordinary prince create Saudi Arabia? Who was the last great Ottoman sultan? Could Jewish and Palestinian states have been created side by side? How did an elderly cleric overthrow the Shah and become ruler of Iran? Why did Osama bin Laden attack America?



These are just some of the many questions that hold the key to understanding the modern Middle East, yet few existing books consider the span of its modern history and the interconnectedness of the region. The Cauldron is a gripping and vital intervention that recounts the key events, characters, powers and ideologies that have shaped the Middle East as we know it today: from Ibn Saud, Lawrence of Arabia, Ataturk, and Churchill all the way through to Erdogan, bin Laden, Netanyahu and al-Sharaa.



In his signature vivid historical storytelling, Dr Montefiore begins at the turn of the century, when most of the Arab world was under Ottoman rule. From there he takes us through the end of the age of empire, wars of independence and the birth of new nation states, through to the twenty-first century; the Arab spring, and the most recent chapter of history that began on 7th October 2023.



From one of our most renowned historians, this is the fascinating and essential story of how the Middle East of 1900 became the Middle East of 2025.