Man Who Created the Middle East

<p> <strong>At the age of only 36 Sir Mark Sykes was signatory to the Sykes-Picot agreement one of the most reviled treaties of modern times. A century later Christopher Sykes' lively biography of his grandfather reassesses his life and work and the political instability and violence in the Middle East attributed to it.</strong> </p><p>The Sykes-Picot agreement was drawn by the eponymous<br />British and French diplomats in 1916 to determine the divide<br />of the collapsing empire in the event of an allied victory in<br />World War I. Excluding Arab involvement it negated their<br />earlier guarantee of independence made by the British -<br />and controversy has raged around it ever since.<br />But who was Mark Sykes?</p><p>A century on Christopher Simon Sykes reveals new facets<br />of a misremembered diplomatic giant. Using previously<br />undisclosed family letters and cartoons by his grandfather <br />he delivers a comprehensive and humbling account of the man behind one of the most impactful policies in the Middle East.</p>