In this collection of bold and wide-ranging essays, Fouad Ajami offers his views on the Middle East, commenting on the state of affairs in Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Egypt, as well as providing historical perspectives on Algeria and Spain. He brings into focus the current struggles of the region through detailed historical analysis and a personal perspective immersed in the literature of the time and place. The author discusses such landmark events as the Algerian civil war, the state of the Arab world shortly after 9/11, and the pan-Arab awakening that began in 2011, as well as current events such as the Syrian rebellion and the repercussions of the brutal response by Bashar al-Assad. In addition, he sheds new light on some of the significant players in the Arab world, past and present, from Naguib Mahfouz, a Nobel laureate and a man of the Cairo alleyways and coffeehouses, to Ziad Jarrah, the terrorist who is thought to have been at the controls of the plane forced down by its heroic passengers in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on 9/11.