This is a really important work for anyone wanting to understand West Asia - and particularly the role Zionism and European colonialism played in dividing up the region - in a more comprehensive way. The variety of Arab thinkers and actors Makdisi weaves into this history to reframe how we understand the way events unfolded is enlightening - especially the way Iraq and Lebanon's post-Ottoman emergence unfolded and the eyes through which he tells those stories. It's a really important history for anyone wanting to understand the region then and now.