The Man Who Created the Middle East: A Story of Empire, Conflict and the Sykes-Picot Agreement

At the age of only 36, Sir Mark Sykes was signatory to the Sykes-Picot agreement, one of the most reviled treaties of modern times. A century later, Christopher Sykes’ lively biography of his grandfather reassesses his life and work, and the political instability and violence in the Middle East attributed to it. The Sykes–Picot agreement was drawn by the eponymous British and French diplomats in 1916 to determine the divide of the collapsing empire in the event of an allied victory in World War I. Excluding Arab involvement, it negated their earlier guarantee of independence made by the British – and controversy has raged around it ever since. But who was Mark Sykes? A century on, Christopher Simon Sykes reveals new facets of a misremembered diplomatic giant. Using previously undisclosed family letters and cartoons by his grandfather, he delivers a comprehensive and humbling account of the man behind one of the most impactful policies in the Middle East. Christopher Simon Sykes best autobiography offers a detailed history of international relations, focusing on the military strategies and political decisions that have influenced the Middle East. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the region's past and its present. For fans of Tessa Boase (The Housekeeper's Tale), Lawrence Durrell (Reflections on a Marine Venus), Martin Gayford (Venice), Andrea Wulf (Magnificent Rebels), and Arthur Parkinson (Chicken Boy).