The Damascus Events: The 1860 Massacre and the Destruction of the Old Ottoman World

(Hardback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

The dramatic history of a massacre in Damascus, and the collapse of the old Ottoman world order This remarkable book recreates one of the watershed moments in the history of the Middle East- the ferocious outbreaks of disorder across the Levant in 1860 which resulted in the massacre of thousands of Christians in Damascus. Eugene Rogan brilliantly recreates the lost world of the Middle East under Ottoman rule. The once mighty empire was under pressure from global economic change and European imperial expansion. Reforms in the mid-nineteenth century raised tensions across the empire, nowhere more so than in Damascus. A multifarious city linked by caravan trade to Baghdad, the Mediterranean and Mecca, the chaos of languages, customs and beliefs made Damascus a warily tolerant place. Until the reforms began to advantage the minority Christian community at the expense of the Muslim majority. But in 1860 people who had generally lived side by side for generations became bitter enemies as news of civil war in Mount Lebanon arrived in the city. Under the threat of a French expeditionary force, the Ottomans dealt with the disaster effectively and ruthlessly - but the old, generally quite tolerant Damascene world lay in ruins. It would take a quarter of a century to restore stability and prosperity to the Syrian capital. This is both an essential book for understanding the emergence of the modern Middle East from the destruction of the old Ottoman world, and a uniquely gripping story.

Reviews

PRAISE FOR THE FALL OF THE OTTOMANS: 'Thrilling, superb, and colourful ... truly essential but also truly exciting reading. -- Simon Sebag Montefiore
A timely and capacious history... compelling and brilliant. -- Jeremy Seal * Sunday Telegraph *
Remarkably readable, judicious and well-researched. -- Mark Mazower * Financial Times *

Author Bio

Eugene Rogan is author of the bestselling The Fall of the Ottomans- The Great War in the Middle East, 1914-1920. He is professor of modern Middle Eastern history at the University of Oxford and Director of the Middle East Centre, St Antony's College, Oxford.