“Best of Enemies is surely destined to stand alongside Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis as a graphic history of the Middle East. A must read for anyone interested in learning, or teaching, about the region.”—Mark Levine, professor of history at UC-Irvine and author of Heavy Metal Islam In the third volume of their graphic history of US and Middle East relations, Jean-Pierre Filiu and David B. take in the tumultuous period that began with Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and ended with Obama’s decision, in 2013, not to intervene in Syria. Spanning the First Gulf War, the rise of al-Qaeda, the military response to September 11, and the present conflict in Syria, Best of Part Three is propelled by a clash between four presidents and their Middle Eastern on the one hand, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama; on the other, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, and Bashar al-Assad. Covering 30 years of conflict and diplomacy, Best of Part Three is a breezy and engaging guide to the events that shaped the politics of today.

The second volume of Jean-Pierre Filiu and David B.’s graphic novel history of US–Middle East relations begins in the 1950s with the Eisenhower Doctrine and ends with the Lebanese War of 1982. A perceptive and authoritative account of this turbulent historical period, Best of Enemies provides an overview of the Six-Day War between Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria; the Iranian Revolution of 1979; the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; and other Middle Eastern conflicts involving the United States. A beautifully drawn account of the time period, Best of Enemies is a milestone of graphic novel reportage and of great relevance to the current political situation in the Middle East.

Originally published in French by Futuropolis in 2016.