Introduction -- PART I: AT THE CROSSROADS OF HISTORY: The last days of old Europe -- The legacy of the great game in Asia -- The Middle East before the war -- The young Turks urgently seek an ally -- Winston Churchill on the eve of war -- Churchill seizes Turkey's warships -- An intrigue at the sublime porte -- PART II: KITCHENER OF KHARTOUN LOOKS AHEAD: Kitchener takes command -- Kitchener's lieutenants -- Kitchener sets out to capture Islam -- India protests -- The man in the middle --PART III: BRITAIN IS DRAWN INTO THE MIDDLE EASTERN QUAGMIRE: The Turkish commanders almost lose the war -- Kitchener allows Britain to attack Turkey -- On to victory at the Dardanelles -- Russia's grab for Turkey -- Defining Britain's goals in the Middle East -- At the narrows of fortune -- The warriors -- The politicians -- The light that failed -- Creating the Arab bureau -- Making promises to the Arabs -- Making promises to the European allies -- Turkey's triumph at the Tigris -- PART IV: SUBVERSION: Behind enemy lines -- Kitchener's last mission -- Hussein's revolt -- PART V: THE ALLIES AT THE NADIR OF THEIR FORTUNES: The fall of the allied governments: Britain and France -- The overthrow of the Czar -- PART VI: NEW WORLDS AND PROMISED LANDS: The new world -- Lloyd George's Zionism -- Toward the Balfour declaration -- The promised land --PART VII: INVADING THE MIDDLE EAST: Jerusalem for Christmas -- The road to Damascus -- The battle for Syria -- PART VIII: THE SPOILS OF VICTORY: The parting of the ways -- By the shores of Troy -- PART IX: THE TIDE GOES OUT: The ticking clock -- Betrayal -- The unreal world of the peace conferences -- PART X: STORM OVER ASIA: The troubles begin: 1919-1921 -- Egypt: the winter of 1918-1919 -- Afghanistan: the spring of 1919 -- Arabia: the spring of 1919 -- Turkey: January 1920 -- Syria and Lebanon: the spring and summer of 1920 -- Eastern Palestine (Transjordan): 1920 -- Palestine-Arabs and Jews: 1920 -- Mesopotamia (Iraq): 1920 -- Persia (Iran): 1920 -- PART XI: RUSSIA RETURNS TO THE MIDDLE EAST: Unmasking Britain's enemies -- The Soviet challenge in the Middle East -- Moscow's goals -- A death in Bukhara -- PART XII: THE MIDDLE EASTERN SETTLEMENT OF 1922: Winston Churchill takes charge -- Churchill and the question of Palestine -- The alliances come apart -- A Greek tragedy -- The settlement of the Middle Eastern question -- Afterword to the 2009 edition.