A timely and unprecedented examination of how the modern Middle East unravelled, and why it startedwith the pivotal year of 1979.In Black Wave, award-winning journalist and author Kim Ghattas argues that the turning point in the modernhistory of the Middle East can be located in the toxic confluence of three major events in 1979: the Iranianrevolution; the siege of the Holy Mosque in Mecca; and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Before this year, Saudi Arabia and Iran had been working allies and twin pillars of US strategy in the region - but the radical legacy of these events made them mortal enemies, unleashing a process that transformed culture, society, religion and geopolitics across the region for decades to come.Drawing on a sweeping cast of characters across seven countries over forty years, Ghattas demonstrates howthis rivalry for religious and cultural supremacy has fed intolerance, suppressed cultural expression, encouragedsectarian violence, birthed groups like Hezbollah and ISIS and, ultimately, upended the lives of millions. At once bold and intimate, Black Wave is a remarkable and engrossing story of the Middle East as it has never been told before.'A blistering account'THE SUNDAY TIMES'Thoroughly riveting'PETER FRANKOPAN'Profoundly moving'NEW STATESMAN'A vivid indispensible guide'OBSERVER'A fascinating and important book'JEREMY BOWEN