A Land of Aching Hearts: The Middle East in the Great War

Fawaz (An Occasion for War: Civil Conflict in Lebanon and Damascus in 1860), Tufts University professor of Lebanese and Eastern Mediterranean studies, examines WWI in the Middle East from the perspective of the individual. Fawaz argues that the Great War was a socially transformational experience that, like the contemporary political transformation, is fundamental to understanding the region’s societies today. She develops her thesis with a mixture of secondary and primary sources (particularly rare personal diaries and journals), and closely follows the war’s disruption of lives and the devastation to individuals and groups it caused. Some experts estimate that, in proportional to total population, the Middle East suffered more military and civilian casualties than any other area during the Great War. Fawaz describes the era of modernity and change which began before the war, summarizes the war’s major military campaigns in the region, and touches on various individual accounts of the conflict. She also examines the impacts on daily life caused by the war, including widespread famine, increased crime, decreased wealth, increased unemployment, and the large scale evasion of conscription. Fawaz’s novel contribution to WWI studies is geared toward academics, but is worthwhile for its sociological approach. [em](Nov.) [/em]