Empires of the Sand offers a bold and comprehensive reinterpretation of the struggle for mastery in the Middle East during the long nineteenth century. Backed by a wealth of archival sources, the authors refute the standard belief that Europe was responsible for the destruction of the Ottoman Empire and the region's political unity. Instead, they argue that the main impetus for the development of this momentous period came from the local actors.

Efraim Karsh and Inari Karsh see not a “clash of civilizations” but a pattern of pragmatic cooperation and conflict between the Middle East and the West during the past two centuries. Such a vision affords daringly new ways of viewing the Middle East's past as well as its volatile present.