Kim Ghattas

Born and raised in Beirut during the civil war, I always wanted to be a journalist. I pursued that goal doggedly... and made it. I covered the Middle East from Egypt to Saudi Arabia, Lebanon to Iraq and Syria for the BBC, the Financial Times and the dutch daily de Volkskrant. I then moved on and moved to the US in 2008 to be the BBC's State department correspondent, traveling the world with Condolezza Rice, then Hillary Clinton and finally John Kerry. I wrote about those travels and about American foreign policy in The Secretary, which became a NYT best seller. My latest book is a sweeping history of the Middle East since 1979, a fateful year that unleashed a bitter rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. I now live between Beirut and Washington DC. I love to cook when I'm home and I miss my dog, Laika, whenever I'm traveling.