Modern Kürt Tarihi

“The best single-narrative history of the Kurds... A book that should be on the shelf of anyone interested in the Middle East today...”

Washington Post Newspaper, Book World Section

“A fascinating study of traditional scholarship... An extraordinary narrative.”

New York Times Newspaper

“An impressive and significant achievement.”

New Statesman and Society Magazine

“A superbly readable narrative...a great achievement on many levels.”

Christopher Walker

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The division of the Kurdish people among the modern nation states of Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran, and their struggle for national rights, have been constant themes in the history of the recent Middle East. They are also issues that have never been more burning than they are today, especially in Iraq and Turkey.

The Kurdish lands have been a contested area for centuries: a dangerous mountain route through which trade caravans and armies had to pass, a defensive line against hostile forces and a source of challenge to state authority. From the 16th to the 19th centuries, the Ottoman Empire and Iran competed for control over the Kurdish tribal leaders, who competed with each other for recognition. But in the 20th century, rapid political and economic transformation and the conflicting initiatives of the Iranian, Iraqi and Turkish governments on the one hand, and Turkish nationalists on the other, radically changed the conditions of the Kurdish nation’s struggle for its rights.