About this item

Novelistic and character-driven, Black Wave is an unprecedented and ambitious examination of how the modern Middle East unraveled and why it started with the pivotal year of 1979. Kim Ghattas seamlessly weaves together history, geopolitics, and culture to deliver a gripping read of the largely unexplored story of the rivalry between between Saudi Arabia and Iran, born from the sparks of the 1979 Iranian revolution and fueled by American policy. With vivid story-telling, extensive historical research and on-the-ground reporting, Ghattas dispels accepted truths about a region she calls home. She explores how Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran, once allies and twin pillars of US strategy in the region, became mortal enemies after 1979. She shows how they used and distorted religion in a competition that went well beyond geopolitics.



About the Author

Kim Ghattas

Born and raised in Beirut during the civil war, I always wanted to be a journalist. I pursued that goal doggedly... and made it. I covered the Middle East from Egypt to Saudi Arabia, Lebanon to Iraq and Syria for the BBC, the Financial Times and the dutch daily de Volkskrant. I then moved on and moved to the US in 2008 to be the BBC's State department correspondent, traveling the world with Condolezza Rice, then Hillary Clinton and finally John Kerry. I wrote about those travels and about American foreign policy in The Secretary, which became a NYT best seller. My latest book is a sweeping history of the Middle East since 1979, a fateful year that unleashed a bitter rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. I now live between Beirut and Washington DC. I love to cook when I'm home and I miss my dog, Laika, whenever I'm traveling.



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