The Near East Since The First World War; & Iran In The Twentieth Century

• The Near East Since The First World War
  M.E. Yapp - Longman, 1991 - xvii+526pp. - £52 (hardhack), £14.95 (paperback)
• Iran In The Twentieth Century: A Political History
  M. Reza Ghods - Adamantine Press, 1989 - xvi+296 pp. - £29.50

The Gulf War spawned a host of books concerned with the Saddam Hussein regime, the invasion of Kuwait and the war itself. Most were written in a rush, and show it. None gives the reader a broader background to the crisis within the context of Middle Eastern history. The serious student therefore has to turn to the more academic books which concern themselves with the history of this turbulent region,' and, by a happy coincidence, a new book provides just such a history in a coherent, readable yet impressively detailed, form.