Comprising 26 newly commissioned essays by leading international scholars, this Companion treats the Middle East as four differentiated political units - Iran, Turkey, Israel, and the Arab world. While focused primarily on the modern and contemporary periods, it also includes a number of chapters on classical and pre-modern themes. Topics are situated within a chronological framework and include the rise of Islam, the militarization of Islam under a wide variety of dynasties, the commercial and industrial revolutions, colonial rule, and the struggle for independence.

A final section highlights issues that have preoccupied historians in the second half of the twentieth century, and are most likely to gain momentum well into the twenty-first. These range from oil and urban growth to the role of women and democratic human rights.