A New York Times Notable Book of 2020 [A] sweeping and authoritative history (The New York
Times Book Review) 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. Feeding intolerance
suppressing cultural expression and encouraging sectarian violence from Egypt to Pakistan the
war for cultural supremacy led to Iran's fatwa against author Salman Rushdie the assassination
of countless intellectuals the birth of groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon the September 11th
terrorist attacks and the rise of ISIS. Ghattas introduces us to a riveting cast of characters
whose lives were upended by the geopolitical drama over four decades: from the Pakistani
television anchor who defied her country's dictator to the Egyptian novelist thrown in jail
for indecent writings all the way to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi
consulate in Istanbul in 2018. Black Wave is both an intimate and sweeping history of the
region and will significantly alter perceptions of the Middle East.
