"Sobering in its implications, but fortunately anything but in its narrative style, Kingmakers is an absorbing, illuminating read." The Scotsman "The magnificent anecdotes alone make the book a pleasure..." Diplomat "Karl E Meyer's and Shareen Brysac's Kingmakers: the Invention of the Modern Middle East deals engagingly with an assortment of mainly European officials, dreamers, politicians and soldiers." Eunan O'Halpin, The Irish Times, Memorable Reads from a Good Vintage 2008 "All fascinating and informative material." Military Illustrated "A lovely book, bitter and sweet as the story it recounts." Oxford Times "Beautifully written and researched." Washington Post "Telling its story through British and American apprentice sorcerers, Kingmakers is a character-driven, complex and page-turning human story." The Times Literary Supplement

Karl E. Meyer has written extensively on foreign affairs in The New York Times and the Washington Post. Shareen Blair Brysac, formerly a prize-winning documentary producer at CBS News, is the author of Resisting Hitler. Their previous book was Tournament of Shadows.