Using the post-war Iraqi-Kurdish rebellion as a starting point, this book provides a history of the Kurds which touches particularly on the period since the break-up of the Ottoman Empire. The book includes discussion of who the Kurds are, historically, culturally and anthropologically, as well as a brief account of Kurdistan during the Middle Ages, under the dynasty of Saladin. The bulk of the book describes the troubled history of the Kurds since World War I.