In 2011, a series of anti-government uprisings shook the Middle East and North Africa in what would become known as the Arab Spring. Few could predict that these convulsions, initially hailed in the West as a triumph of democracy, would give way to brutal civil war, the terrors of the Islamic State, and a global refugee crisis. But, as New York Times bestselling author Scott Anderson shows, the seeds of catastrophe had been sown long before.

In this gripping account, Anderson examines the myriad complex causes of the region's profound unraveling, tracing the ideological conflicts of the present to their origins in the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003 and beyond. From this investigation emerges a rare view into a land in upheaval through the eyes of six individuals-the matriarch of a dissident Egyptian family; a Libyan Air Force cadet with divided loyalties; a Kurdish physician from a prominent warrior clan; a Syrian university student caught in civil war; an Iraqi activist for women's rights; and an Iraqi day laborer-turned-ISIS fighter. A probing and insightful work of reportage, Fractured Lands offers a penetrating portrait of the contemporary Arab world and brings the stunning realities of an unprecedented geopolitical tragedy into crystalline focus.

A lucid, powerful, and very human account of the transformation of the Arab world in the years following the invasion of Iraq in 2003, by the author of the Sunday Times bestseller Lawrence in Arabia.

About the Author
Scott Anderson is a veteran war correspondent who has reported from Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Northern Ireland, Chechnya, Sudan, Bosnia, El Salvador and many other war-torn countries. His previous book, Lawrence in Arabia, was a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, and was shortlisted for the US National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography.

Reviews
Fascinating . . . Masterly -- Sir Max Hastings, Sunday Times on Lawrence in Arabia
Tremendous . . . A masterpiece -- Jan Morris, Daily Telegraph on Lawrence in Arabia
Magisterial -- Amir Taheri, The Times on Lawrence in Arabia
Fascinating . . . Illuminating -- New York Times on Lawrence in Arabia
Gripping . . . brilliant -- William Dalrymple, New Statesman on Lawrence in Arabia
Engrossing, thoughtful and intrictate -- Alex von Tunzelmann, New York Times Book Review on Lawrence in Arabia
Compelling -- Washington Post on Lawrence in Arabia
Thrilling -- Boston Globe on Lawrence in Arabia



Book Information
ISBN 9781509852963
Author Scott Anderson
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Picador
Publisher Pan Macmillan
Weight(grams) 203g
Dimensions(mm) 197mm * 130mm * 15mm