On Sunday 20th January OKA members met with David McDonald, historian and author of The Modern History of the Kurds, one of the most comprehensive accounts of the Kurdish modern history which was first published in 1996. It became a foundation text for the subsequent growth of scholarship on the Kurds and, revised and updated three times, remains an essential part of the literature. David is currently updating the book again, and he shared his thoughts on the recent developments in the Middles East.