Though there is much discussion of the role of youth in recent upheavals in the Middle East, there are few serious analyses of just what that role has been. Haggai Erlich sheds important light on this topic, focusing on the activism of educated young people in creating revolutionary change and the part played by higher education in shaping new generations of youth.

Moving from the nineteenth century to the present, Erlich considers why and how these successive generations ignited protest movements, undermined existing systems - and sometimes paved the way for a new order that ultimately excluded them. The result is both an intriguing look at recent history and a contribution to our understanding of the Middle East today.