27. Barnaby Rogerson at the Bridport Literary Festival (Thursday 07 November 4.30pm) SOLD OUT

Sunni, Shia and the Making of the Middle EastIn conversation with Jason Goodwin

At the heart of the Middle East, with its regional conflicts and proxy wars, is a 1400 year old schism between Sunni and Shia. To understand this divide and its modern resonances, Barnaby Rogerson revisits its origins. The House Divided follows the narratives through the first caliphates and empires forged by Arabs, Persians and
Turks to the contemporary Middle East and explains how in 1979 this already complex world was jolted by the seismic shift of three revolutions – in Iran, Mecca and Afghanistan and why it is again at the centre of global crises.