Professor Sean Mcmeekin Reviews The Cauldron in the Wall Street Journal
Sean McMeekin, Francis Flournoy Professor of European History and Culture.
Francis Flournoy Professor of European History and Culture Sean McMeekin reviewed Simon Sebag Montefiore’s new book The Cauldron for the Wall Street Journal. The Cauldron presents a history of the Middle East since the beginning of the 20th century. Montefiore first examines the Arab Revolt in 1916, before turning to the Cold War, the Iranian Revolution, and the Arab Spring. “Not all his stories are original,” McMeekin writes, “but he enriches them with fascinating details.” The Cauldron is “marred only by the occasional slip … its muscular prose, blending highbrow erudition with blunt and occasionally vulgar humor, is indelible.”
McMeekin teaches in Bard’s Historical Studies Program, which encourages students to examine history through the prism of other relevant disciplines such as anthropology, economics, and philosophy and different forms of expression. The program also introduces students to a variety of methodological perspectives used in historical research and to philosophical assumptions about men, women, and society that underlie these perspectives.
Post Date: 09-30-2026
McMeekin teaches in Bard’s Historical Studies Program, which encourages students to examine history through the prism of other relevant disciplines such as anthropology, economics, and philosophy and different forms of expression. The program also introduces students to a variety of methodological perspectives used in historical research and to philosophical assumptions about men, women, and society that underlie these perspectives.
Post Date: 09-30-2026