This is the story of the secret deal between the British and French, concluded in May 1916, which aimed to carve up the Middle East in ways that most benefited the two European powers.Modern world history has been heavily influenced by events in the Middle East, whose strategic importance has been magnified by both a global dependence on oil and the Israel-Palestine conflict.A hundred years ago, World War I saw Britain, France and Russia locked in combat with Germany, Austro-Hungary and the Ottomans. As the war in Europe fought itself almost to a standstill, Britain cast a strategic eye towards key areas of the Ottoman Empire. Should the allies be victorious, it would be important to claim the most strategically valuable territory - Greater Syria and Mesopotamia - particularly in relation to the French.The prime minister, Herbert Asquith, turned to a young British politician, Sir Mark Sykes, who'd become chief government adviser on the 'Near East'. In late 1915 and early 1916, he and the French lawyer-turned-diplomat, Francois Georges-Picot, would negotiate the terms of a secret agreement with potentially far-reaching consequences.