In the original dust jacket. Black cloth binding with red title on the spine.

We provide an in-depth photographic presentation of this item to stimulate your feeling and touch. More traditional book descriptions are immediately available. 

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Please view our photographs and read the rubric on the inside of the dust jacket. Frank G. Weber’s Eagles on the Crescent is a highly regarded diplomatic history that uncovers the complex, often dysfunctional military and political alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire during World War I (1914–1918). Rather than blaming British and French policies of the twenties & thirties for the current state of the Middle East, the finger of blame is aimed at Germany, Austria, and the Ottoman Empire. 

The Core Thesis: Weber argues that the German-Ottoman alliance was not a harmonious partnership, but rather a marriage of convenience filled with mutual suspicion. While Germany viewed the Ottoman Empire (the “Crescent”) as a tool to disrupt British and Russian colonial ambitions, the Young Turk government successfully exploited German support to preserve its own collapsing empire.

Key Themes:

• Economic Exploitation: The book details how Germany aggressively sought monopoly rights over Ottoman resources, particularly oil fields and the Berlin-Baghdad railway extension.
• Geopolitical Manipulation: It explores how the Ottomans resisted absolute German control, playing their German and Austro-Hungarian allies against one another to maintain sovereignty.
• The Collapse: Weber tracks how the strain of the war ultimately shattered the alliance, leaving the Middle East map permanently redrawn.