The year 1958 was a dramatic turning point in the history of the Middle East and the Arab World: Lebanon was in turmoil; Iraq underwent revolution. The West-backed King Faisal of Iraq and Crown Prince Abdallah were deposed and killed by a military coup led by Abd al-Karim Qasim and the new republic was proclaimed on the 14th July. Led by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Arab world seemed to be splitting from the West and, some claimed, realigning itself with the communist world. Here is a seminal work by world-class scholars - required reading for anyone with a serious interest in the recent history of the region.

Wm. Roger Louis is Kerr Professor of English History and Cultures at the University of Texas at Austin and Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford. Roger Owen is A.J. Meyer Professor of Middle East History at Harvard University. He is the co-author of A History of Middle East Economies in the Twentieth Century and Middle East in the World Economy (both I.B. Tauris).