Three Kings: The Rise of an American Empire in the Middle East After World War II

In an account that Publishers Weekly calls erudite, persuasively argued, and lucid,â one of our preeminent diplomatic historians draws a magisterial portrait of Americaâs ascent in the Middle East during and following World War II.

From F.D.R. to L.B.J., Three Kings reveals a story of Americaâs scramble for political influence, oil concessions, and a new military presence based on airpower and generous American aid to shaky regimes in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, and Iraq. Marshaling new and revelatory evidence from the archives, Lloyd Gardner deftly weaves together three decades of U.S. moves in the region to offer the first history of Americaâs efforts to supplant the British empire in the Middle East. From the early efforts to support and influence the Saudi regime (including the creation of Dhahran airbase, the target of Osama bin Ladenâs first terrorist attack in 1996) and the CIA-engineered coup in Iran to Nasserâs Egypt and, finally, the rise of Iraq as a major petroleum power, Three Kings is a valuable contribution to our understanding of our still-deepening involvement in this regionâ (Booklist).

As American policy makers and military planners grapple with the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, Gardner uncovers the largely hidden story of how the United States got into the Middle East in the first place.