Railway expansion was symbolic of modernization in the late 19th century, and Britain, Germany and France built railways at enormous speed and reaped great commercial benefits. In the Middle East, railways were no less important and the Ottoman Empire's Hejaz Railway was the first great industrial project of the 20th century. A route running from Damascus to Mecca, it was longer than the line from Berlin to Baghdad and was designed to function as the artery of the Arab world - linking Constantinople to Arabia. Built by German engineers, and instituted by Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the railway was financially crippling for the Ottoman state and the its eventual stoppage 250 miles short of Mecca (the railway ended in Medina) was symbolic of the Ottoman Empire's crumbling economic and diplomatic fortunes. This is the first book in English on the subject, and is essential reading for those interested in Industrial History, Ottoman Studies and the geopolitics of the Middle East before World War I.

This book, first published in 1971, details the Muhammad ‘Ārif manuscript which propagates the project of the Hejaz railway connecting Damascus with Medina and Mecca. The project has been seen as a specific, dramatic example of the phenomenon of growing Arab nationalism during the early years of the twentieth century. Included here is an annotated edition of the Arabic manuscript, an English translation, and an extensive introduction with notes and historical setting. The ‘Ārif manuscript gives a clear view of the struggle for reform in Turkey at the time when burgeoning Arab nationalism became an important factor in the railway project. Many aspects of Middle Eastern politics can be traced to basic factors described in the manuscript by ‘Ārif.

Winding its way from Damascus through the vast desert wastes of Jordan and into the spectacular barren mountains of north-west Saudi Arabia, the Hejaz Railway was a testament to the fading, but still potent power of the Ottomans in Arabia.

Railway expansion was the great industrial project of the late 19th century, and the Great Powers built railways at speed and reaped great commercial benefits. The greatest imperial dream of all was to connect the might of Europe to the potential riches of the Middle East and the Ottoman Empire. In 1903 Imperial Germany, under Kaiser Wilhelm II, began to construct a railway which would connect Berlin to the Ottoman city of Baghdad, and project German power all the way to the Persian Gulf. The Ottoman Emperor, Abdul Hamid II, meanwhile, saw the railway as a means to bolster crumbling Ottoman control of Arabia. Using new Ottoman Turkish sources, Murat Ozyuksel shows how the Berlin-Baghdad railway became a symbol of both rising European power and declining Ottoman fortunes. It marks a new and important contribution to our understanding of the geopolitics of the Middle East before World War I, and will be essential reading for students of empire, Industrial History and Ottoman Studies.