{"title":"Books by John McHugo","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780863567421","title":"A Concise History of the Arabs","description":"The key to understanding the Arab world today is unlocking its past. In this authoritative account, John McHugo takes the reader through the political, social and intellectual history of the Arabs from the Roman Empire right up to the present day. Going beyond the headlines, he describes in vivid detail a series of key turning points in Arab history from the mission of the Prophet Muhammad and the expansion of Islam to the region's interaction with Western ideas and the rise of Islamism. Now fully updated to cover the tumultuous years since the Arab Spring, this lucidly told history reveals how the Arab world came to have its present form and illuminates the choices that lie ahead.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56295321338229,"sku":"9780863567421","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780863567421_7e5b6e43-fa38-4e21-aa34-257461610324.jpg?v=1786015722"},{"product_id":"9780863561603","title":"Syria","description":"Syria's descent into chaos since 2011 has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, while more than nine million people have fled their homes. In this timely account, John McHugo charts the history of Syria from the First World War to the present and considers why Syria's foundations as a nation have proved so fragile. He examines the country's thwarted attempts at independence under French rule before turning to more recent events: two generations of rule by the Assad family, sectarian tensions, the pressures that turned an aborted revolution into a proxy war, and the appearance of ISIS. As the conflict in Syria rages on, McHugo provides a rare and authoritative guide to a complex nation that demands our attention.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56295471382901,"sku":"9780863561603","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780863561603_98742740-bda4-4358-8166-80f9db3a1f45.jpg?v=1786015696"},{"product_id":"9780863569265","title":"A Concise History of Sunnis and Shi`is","description":"The 1400-year-old schism between Sunnis and Shi'is is currently reflected in the destructive struggle for hegemony between Saudi Arabia and Iran - with no apparent end in sight. But how did this conflict begin, and why is it now the focus of so much attention? In this definitive account, John McHugo charts the history of Islam from the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad to the present day. He describes the conflicts that raged over the succession to the Prophet, how Sunnism and Shi'ism evolved as different sects during the Abbasid caliphate, and how the rivalry between the empires of the Sunni Ottomans and Shi'i Safavids ensured that the split would continue into the modern age. In recent decades, this centuries-old divide has acquired a new toxicity resulting in violence across the Arab and Muslim world.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56295485145461,"sku":"9780863569265","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780863569265_c6c5500b-3198-4f1c-934a-3e71fd49e06c.jpg?v=1786032904"},{"product_id":"9781805266679","title":"Parallel Roads to Ruin","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA vivid account of Zionism and Islamism’s deadly embrace.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eZionism and Islamism both emerged in response to oppression and injustice, aiming to bring dignity, freedom and security to the downtrodden followers of one of the world’s great religions. Yet both have since created oppression and injustice and used violence to attain their goals, fomenting bitter hatreds. These led directly to the horrifying October 7 attacks and ensuing destruction of Gaza.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJohn McHugo calls for a radical rethink of these two ideologies. Tracing the problematic relationship of Europe and ‘the West’ with Jews and Muslims, from the Middle Ages to nineteenth-century nationalism to today, he shows how the Israel–Palestine conflict stained both movements indelibly. He focuses on the personalities involved as much as their ideas—from Theodor Herzl, David Ben-Gurion, Menachem Begin and Benjamin Netanyahu to Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Sayyid Qutb, Shaykh Ahmad Yassin and Osama bin Laden.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOnly by confronting the unwelcome facts of this intertwined history can lasting peace and fundamental rights be secured—and the downward spiral towards disaster reversed.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56998993330549,"sku":"9781805266679","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781805266679_8fff783b-e199-4cb8-8f8e-ac5440f9dc9d.jpg?v=1786034175"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-john-mchugo.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}