Two books by a French author called Jacques Benoist-Méchin. They work as a pair and they tell the stories of Kemal Atatürk (the founder of modern Turkey) and Ib

Two books by a French author called Jacques Benoist-Méchin. They work as a pair and they tell the stories of Kemal Atatürk (the founder of modern Turkey) and Ibn Saud (the founder of modern Saudi Arabia). I've found the perspective it brought to the modern geopolitics of the region invaluable. PS: Benoist-Méchin was a French far-right journalist, writer and was openly sympathetic with Nazi Germany. Not that I condone that (I don't) but the books are excellent nonetheless.