The making of the modern Middle East

Welcome back to the History Extra podcast. Today's Middle East is marked by ongoing conflict and violence, but how did we get here? In his latest book, The Cauldron, historian Simon Seabag Montefiore sets out to explore how the region and its divisions came into being. Speaking to Charlotte Vosber in a conversation recorded in June 2026, Simon offers his take on the key forces and figures that forged the region. You begin the book with Abdulaziz's raid on Riyadh in 1902, the beginning of his conquest of the kingdom that would become Saudi Arabia.

Why did you decide to start your history of the modern Middle East there? Virtually all histories of the Middle East or the Arab world start in the sort of traditional Levant. They start, you know, in Jerusalem, or they start in Lebanon or in Syria or in Constantinople or in Cairo, but anywhere but Saudi Arabia. But Saudi Arabia is really the center of the Middle East. It's Mecca and Medina is there.

But also it's just an original. place to start and a signal that this is very much Arab-centric, about Arabia, where it all started. And it's one of the best stories in the book. I mean, 30 or 40 people conquer Riyadh in a sort of dawn raid, led by Abdulaziz Ibn Saud himself, and they kill the governor, they seize it. It's an old-fashioned battle.

We already have this episode, so unlocking it is cheap and permanent: the full transcript (43 minutes, 7,015 words), segment and word-level timestamps, and .txt, .srt, .vtt and word-level JSON downloads, as many times as you like, forever.

No account needed, we create one from your checkout email. With credits it is 1 credit; packs start at 5 episodes for $3.49, and monthly plans are cheaper still.