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 Bedouin 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 books.
