William L. Cleveland died in 2006, shortly following his retirement as an award-winning professor of history at Simon Fraser University, Canada. He received his BA from Dartmouth College and his PhD from Princeton University. A specialist in the study of Arab nationalism, he is the author of three books, along with numerous chapters and articles. In recognition of his exceptional contributions to education and training in Middle East Studies, he was the 2006 recipient of the Middle East Studies Association's Mentorship Award.

Martin Bunton is a professor of history at the University of Victoria, Canada. His first book focused on colonial land policies in Palestine during the inter-war period, and he has also written The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Very Short Introduction. He studies and teaches the Middle East in a global context.

Part One: The Development of Islamic Civilisation to the Eighteenth Century 1. The Rise and Expansion of Islam 2. The Development of Islamic Civilisation to the Fifteenth Century 3. The Ottoman and Safavid Empires: A New Imperial Synthesis Part Two: The Beginnings of the Era of Transformation 4. Forging a New Synthesis: The Pattern of Reforms, 1789-1849 5. The Ottoman Empire and Egypt During the Era of the Tanzimat 6. Egypt and Iran in the Late Nineteenth Century 7. The Response of Islamic Society 8. The Era of the Young Turks and the Iranian Constitutionalists 9. World War I and the End of the Ottoman Order Part Three: The Struggle for Independence: The Inter-war Era to the End of World War II 10. Authoritarian Reform in Turkey and Iran 11. The Arab Struggle for Independence: Egypt, Iraq, and Transjordan from the Inter-war Era to 1945 12. The Arab Struggle for Independence: Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia from the Inter-war Era to 1945 13. The Palestine Mandate and the Birth of the State of Israel Part Four: The Independent Middle East from the End of World War II to the 1970s 14. Democracy and Authoritarianism: Turkey and Iran 15. The Middle East in the Age of Nasser: The Egyptian Base 16. The Middle East in the Age of Nasser: The Radicalisation of Arab Politics 17. Israel and the Palestinians from 1948 to the 1970s Part Five: The Resurgence of Islam: The Middle East from the 1970s to the 1991 Gulf War 18. The Iranian Revolution and the Revival of Islam 19. Changing Patterns of War and Peace: Egypt and Lebanon in the 1970s and 1980s 20. The Arabian Peninsula in the Petroleum Era 21. The Consolidation of Authoritarian Rule in Syria and Iraq: The Regimes of Hafiz al-Asad and Saddam Husayn Part Six: Challenges to the Existing Order: The Middle East in the 1990s and 2000s 22. The Palestinian Intifada and the 1991 Gulf War 23. A Peace So Near, a Peace So Far: Israeli-Palestinian Relations Since the 1991 Gulf War 24. Patterns of Continuity and Change in Turkey, Iran, and Lebanon Since the 1990s 25. America's Troubled Moment in the Middle East Part Seven: Revolution and Counter-Revolution: The Middle East Since 2011 26. The 2011 Arab Uprisings and Their Aftermath 27. A Shifting Geopolitical Landscape