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  • Our Man in the Middle East

  • First-Hand Accounts from the Front Line
  • By: Jeremy Bowen
  • Narrated by: Jeremy Bowen
  • Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (87 ratings)

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Our Man in the Middle East

By: Jeremy Bowen
Narrated by: Jeremy Bowen
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Summary

BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen presents a personal history of the Middle East.

Over these 25 programmes, Jeremy reflects on the present and the past of the Middle East, after reporting from the region for more than a quarter of a century. He combines first-hand accounts from the front line with an in-depth look into the region's history. He has witnessed endless wars between individuals, religious groups and full-sized states, jostling for military, political and economic power. He has interviewed dictators, fanatics and fundamentalists as well as the ordinary people caught up in their dangerous games. In that time, the past has always been present, providing motivation and political ammunition. Bowen has made headlines himself and he has paid a personal price, coming under fire and losing a colleague in the course of reporting - on the worst day, he says, in his life.

  1. The Giant Awakens: On America's dramatic intervention in the region during the massive military build-up to the first Gulf War
  2. All Flesh Is Glass: Bowen recalls the devastation of the first Gulf War, as he witnessed the aftermath of the bombing of a shelter in Baghdad
  3. Retreat to the Mountains: The story of the Kurds of Iraq
  4. Jerusalem: On the allure and challenge of the Holy City
  5. Recipe for Disaster: How the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin changed the region's history
  6. Crossing the Divide: How a gas container explains the divide between the Israelis and the Palestinians
  7. Death on the Nile: On the trail of Osama bin Laden
  8. The Final Frontier: Looking back to December 1998, when the West sent bombers into Baghdad
  9. A Blunt Instrument: Bowen recalls his tricky dealings with the Iraqi Ministry of Information
  10. The Nearness of Death: Bowen describes the worst day of his working life - the day he and his colleagues came under fire from the Israeli Defence Force
  11. A Strike to the Heart: The dark days following 9/11
  12. The Drums of War: The fallout from the invasion of Iraq in 2003
  13. The Unravelling: On what went wrong, as Iraq descended into chaos in the months after the US invasion in 2003
  14. Guns and Olive Branches: The life of Yasser Arafat
  15. Missiles and the Ballot Box: Exploring Gaza
  16. A Taste of Fire and Smoke: The impact of religious divisions across the Middle East
  17. A Flash of Nail Varnish: On Iran's strategic position in the Middle East and its attitudes to the West
  18. The Revolving Revolution: The popular revolution in Egypt during the Arab Spring
  19. Unfollow the Leader: The overthrow of Colonel Gaddafi in Libya
  20. Crossing the Line: The dramatic eruption of opposition to the Assad regime in Syria
  21. A Mini World War: On the many different layers of war in Syria
  22. Oil and Water: The conflict in Yemen and the role of Saudi Arabia
  23. The New Sultan: Turkey's dramatic changes under the leadership of President Erdogan
  24. Cruelty Without Borders: On the rise and fall of the Islamic State group
  25. Through a Glass Darkly: Bowen looks at some of the lessons of the past 25 years - what happens next in the Middle East?

Produced by Mark Savage and Cara Swift.

The audio for this title has been updated as of December 2019.

©2018 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2018 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
  • Radio/TV Programme
  • Categories: History
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What listeners say about Our Man in the Middle East

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Gripping

Great series from an all time great journalist. Fantastic series, masterfully narrated. Hooked from start to finish! Would recommend to anyone.

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Brilliant Podcast. Shocking Formatting

I don't understand how Audible can publish this podcast in completely the wrong order. It makes for such frustrating listening and rejigging of the story. Truly unprofessional!

Incredible podcast by Jeremy Bowen

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Excellent

I just loved (although that might not be the appropriate word) everything about this book, excellent.

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Amazing book, but all chapters scrambled

All the chapters are scrambled out of order, but an amazing account and puts it all in perspective and into a timeline

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Highly recommend

Very informative, i’d highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the recent history of the middle east. it does a very good job of showing how the conflicts in different parts of the region are all connected and the harm caused by western intervention.

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Great listen

A very informative experience narrated by Jeremy brown. This is a book should only be available via audio because a paper copy would not due it justice. If you’re interested in middle eastern society/politics/violence from a semi neutral perspective, this is your book.

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Engaging and fascinating story

Really enjoyed his perspective on the Middle East and the narration was top marks (as it should be of course!)

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stunning clarity on middle east

this is top BBC journalism
clear, compelling and gripping as well as giving historical context to the middle east. other listeners have commented that Audible have scrambled the chapters but they are all in the right order for me no priblems. strongly recommended.

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very interesting

loved this book. Great insight into the problems of the Middle East and how western governments behave.

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An excellent listen but not an easy one.

A fascinating view on the last 25 years in the Middle East but quite an arduous listen. The horrors faced by the people of this region are multitude.

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