Land of Aching Hearts

The Great War transformed the Middle East, bringing to an end four hundred years of Ottoman rule in Arab lands while giving rise to the Middle East as we know it today. A century later, the experiences of ordinary men and women during those calamitous years have faded from memory. A Land of Aching Hearts traverses ethnic, class, and national borders to recover the personal stories of the civilians and soldiers who endured this cataclysmic event.

Among those who suffered were the people of Greater Syria--comprising modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine--as well as the people of Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt. Beyond the shifting fortunes of the battlefield, the region was devastated by a British and French naval blockade made worse by Ottoman war measures. Famine, disease, inflation, and an influx of refugees were everyday realities. But the local populations were not passive victims. Fawaz chronicles the initiative and resilience of civilian emigres, entrepreneurs, draft-dodgers, soldiers, villagers, and townsmen determined to survive the war as best they could. The right mix of ingenuity and practicality often meant the difference between life and death.

The war's aftermath proved bitter for many survivors. Nationalist aspirations were quashed as Britain and France divided the Middle East along artificial borders that still cause resentment. The misery of the Great War, and a profound sense of huge sacrifices made in vain, would color people's views of politics and the West for the century to come.

Review: In A Land of Aching Hearts, Fawaz gives us, not a chronological account of the Great War in the Middle East, but rather a look at the war as it was experienced by and as it affected the peoples of the region, a seriously neglected subject... A Land of Aching Hearts would make interesting reading for anyone interested in the origins of the modern Middle East, the Great War, or the human experience of war.--A. A. Nofi"Strategy Page" (01/26/2015)

World War I changed the history of Europe, but left an even more indelible impression on the Middle East. The conflicts that tear at the region today--the struggles over freedom, land, and identity--all have their roots in the Great War. In this landmark account, Fawaz paints a vivid picture of how the war swept over the Middle East and forever changed its face. Smart, well-written, and brimming with insight, A Land of Aching Hearts stands apart from other histories because it insists on the war's relevance for today's world.--Vali Nasr, author of The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat

A profoundly impressive book that sets a new standard for the social history of World War I. A Land of Aching Hearts does justice to the history of the people of the Middle East by focusing upon a side of the war that has received little attention. From stories of battles, political infighting, and the machinations of profiteers to heartbreaking images of famine, poverty, and disease, Fawaz covers the entirety of the war experience. By placing local events within their regional and international contexts, she shows how a new Middle East emerged after the fighting ceased.--Abdul-Karim Rafeq, College of William and Mary