Middle East Books

Finally, a book that covers the political history of Syria from the days of independence to the Baath days. This is about the only scholarly work I know of that covers this subject in such detail

I have not finished the book yet, but I am half way through. This book is a great source on the history of modern Syria. It is a must read for anyone who wants to truly understands not only the Syrian politics between the end of World Ware II and the Syrian Union with Egypt in 1958, but also those events and incidents that set the stage for the drastic change in political life in Syria afterwards. The dramas, sometimes anecdotal in nature, give the narration an irresistible appeal. The book is well-documented and factual, although the author does not feign objectivity. For anyone interested in modern Syria, the book is really entertaining... at times I could not help chuckling to myself at the comic-tragic turn of events in the lives of some of the early adventurers like Colonel Husni Al-Zaiim. The only thing that the book lacks is a better graphic production; the print and paper quality are mediocre, and the book needs more photographic insets from the period. I would love to see that in a paper-back edition.

This is an invaluable source for anyone researching this time period. Whether studying Damascus, Syria as a whole, the Crusades or the major players in the Crusades, (especially from the Islamic side) Ibn al-Qalanisi is indispensable. Of particular interest to me in my studies were the writings about Zengi, one of the earliest leaders of the Muslim counter-Crusade, who was more preoccupied with capturing Damascus rather than attacking crusader lands. Qalanisi's writings on this character are far from the panegyrics associated with other chroniclers of Zengi (such as Ibn al-Athir).

If you have any interest in the crusades from the Muslim perspective, pick this book up. And just to clarify on the other review listed here, the call for the crusades from Pope Urban II did not occur until 1096, I think he meant that the Qalanisi covers the crusades until the 1160's?

Just as the title says, this book provides a view of the Crusades from the point of view of a Damascene. Consequently, most of the events are related to those where the rulers and/or armies of Damascus were involved. The book covers the early history of the Crusades up until the 1060's AD.

The book sheds much light on the dealings between Muslim rulers and does a pretty good job at telling events. However, it is at places superficial and leaves you wondering about the reasons for a change in a ruler's behavior or the motives for a certain action. Nevertheless, it is an invaluable reference to the events of the period it covers as seen by a contemporary.

I highly recommend this book, not just for the information it provides, but also for some of the beautiful descriptions that it carries. It is one of the few resources available to scholars to learn about the Crusades from the Arab point of view.

This book examines the background of the genocide in the Sudan by examining the history of Chad's relations with Libya. Libya inserted itself in African politics in the 1980s and began a major degree of meddling in Sub-Saharan Africa, training revolutionaries and rebels such as Charles Taylor. Increasingly it involved itself in Chad and Chad became a brooding ground and testing ground for Arab Islamist militias persecuting indigenous Africans and Christians. This was a viscious recipe and it eventually led to the problems across the border in Darfur where similar rivalries based on race, religion and tribe ignited a genocide, backed by Khartoum.

A fascinating history and a new perspective.

Seth J. Frantzman

Images of the genocide in Darfur have shocked the Western world: Upwards of 300,000 of its inhabitants have died, and another 2.5 million have become refugees. Those affected by the violence are estimated at almost 4 million, 700,000 of whom are now beyond the reach of humanitarian assistance. These are staggering numbers, and the fractious insurgent groups involved-- Islamist Arab tribal militias against Christian black Africans and other militias made up of deserters of the Chad Army--were and still are supported to kill, rob, and terrorize by the governments of the neighboring states of the Sudan, Chad, and Libya.
These are the consequences of a decades-long war, as J. Millard Burr and Robert O. Collins explained in their earlier book, Africa's Thirty Years War: Libya, Chad, and the Sudan, 1963-1993. The Long Road to Disaster in Darfur updates this study and covers the events of the last thirteen years.

Reviews of Africa's Thirty Years War
"A lively detailed and informative study...The authors consider ethnic, religious, cultural, technological,geographic, and meteorological variables and present brief enlightening political portraits of the stories' protagonists. Historically situating the war within the struggle for supremacy along the borders of the Islamic world, the book seeks to explain why so many governments invested so much for so long in the control of such seemingly worthless expanses of sand and rock."
--Foreign Affairs

"This is a fine work, well documented and well argued, and convincing."--Journal of Military History

"This fascinating study combines analytical depth with accessible lucidity. It should be essential reading for any student of African history and politics." --African Studies Review

"...a timely, useful contribution. ... The volume is replete with meticulous detail. ...well documented and lucidly written...useful for years to come." --International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies

This is the most sympathetic and healthy accounts of Palestinian Arabs you're ever likely to encounter. Written with disarming simplicity. I assign this book to my classes whenever possible.

Wonderful book. Gives a very insightful summary of the history of Israel from an Arab perspective on a personal scale. The author envelopes you into the story of one ordinary family's life from life in the British mandate through the beginning of the Intifadah. As well as being a description of Arab life within Israel, this book also provides interesting material about the life of small-scale agriculturalists in Arabia.

As reviewed in May 2006 Foreign Service Journal:
"From time to time a book comes along that illustrates a truth familiar to the professional diplomat: domestic parameters within interacting countries often explain the goals and conduct of foreign policy. A classic in this genre, Dr. Stern's "Defense Relations" should be required reading for every advanced class in International Relations. Beyond a meticulous review of the policy process in both countries, Stern's analysis highlights the private and public actors who are part of the policy process, including American legislators who block initiatives and Vietnames generals and bureaucratics who are disparaging, feaful and unimaginative."

My boss made me buy this book.
My boss made me read this book.
Thank GOD for my boss! Only the author himself could possibly know more about the subject than my boss.

This book is required for a complete understanding of the dynamics of this once troubled relationship.

The author puts forth a carefully detailed study into a region greatly misunderstood. Deftly weilding a vast knowledge of the Middle East, Kamrava has crafted his viewpoint to be accessible to today's students of Middle Eastern politics. Unlike many other writers, Kamrava refuses to fall into blind speculation about the region's near future. Instead, the author has brought to the reader a well grounded synthesis of theory and practice that can be used to filter the Middle East's morass of misunderstanding.

Kamrava's analysis of the Middle East makes this book a must have for every student and scholar of the Middle East. His insights about the culture and society in the Middle East, is explained very clearly, making it easy to understand about such a controversial and volatile region.

Edited and with an informative introduction by Jason Thompson, Description Of Egypt: Notes And Views In Egypt And Nubia Made During The Years 1825-28 is the absorbing nineteenth century account by Edward William Lane (1801-1876) of his travels along the length and breadth of Egypt. It was offered for publication in 1831 but never saw print. The manuscript was sold to the British Library by Lane's widow in 1891 and only now has been published, some 170 years after its completion. With Lane's detailed descriptions of all the ancient monuments and contemporary life that he saw during his journey, Description Of Egypt will proof an invaluable reference for students of Egyptology, Egyptian history, and nineteenth century Egyptian culture.

The re-edition of E.W. Lane's book is one of the most welcomed additions for the bookshelves of anyone interested in ancient and late last-century Egypt. This book, in reality, was originally published after the notes, drawings and photographs made by Lane during his journey to the Nile country between 1825-27, so that it is a mine of information about the pharaonic monuments in general and about Egypt during those years. A clear and finely written preface by the Editor, Dr. J. Thompson introduces the reader to the beautifully printed text and images; it should be noted that many of the latter were made with a camera lucida and count among the first taken with such a system. One should not be afraid by its bulky aspect: you will read from start to end without boring. The shcolarly-minded ones will regret the lack of indexes to such a huge volume: it implies that you must do the work by yourself... Simply fabulous both for the Egyptologists and the Egyptomaniacs.

I was in this company during the campaign.It is a good overall view of what was going on at that time. If you are interested in the overall company picture, this is the book you should read. If you are looking for individual crew accounts of action then it is not.

I was an Army tanker during Desert Storm so when I saw this book I had to snap it up and see how the Marine tankers did things. This book is a very interesting read and provides a grunt eye view of Desert Storm from the turret of a Marine Tank. Most of the book deals with deployment and training. When the ground war finally starts you feel as if you are riding in the turret with the author. He does not bore you with tons of names or tries to show you how clever he is by using all kinds of technical jargon. The writing is concise and even if you do not have any knowledge of Marine Corps Armor Operations you can still read this book and enjoy it.

Update notes: (a) the full title is "Dictionary of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Culture, History, and Politics". (b) there are 2 volumes..."Volume 1: A-J" (pages 1-259) and "Volume 2: K-Z" (pages 260-517). (c) there are 4 different ISBNs: ISBN 0-02-865977-5 (2 vol. set hardcover); ISBN 0-02-865978-3 (vol.#1); ISBN 0-02-865979-1 (vol.#2); ISBN 0-02-865996-1 (e-book). This revised 2005 English-language edition was originally issued in French in 2002. By "revised" I mean that its "Yasir Arafat" article even mentions his death in November 2004, and printed in December, just before the start of the early 2005 Sharon-Abbas rapprochement. A very impressive compilation of about 1,500 articles relating to the overall Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some articles contain only two sentences of commentary; others are two pages long. It details not only dozens of political parties throughout the Middle East, but it also provides short biographies of even obscure politicians involved in the Palestine controversy throughout the world -- past and present. It provides the names and dates of various Israeli military operations throughout Palestine. It lists the relevant UN resolutions. It details the main issues at the annual Arab League summits between 1964-2004. Obscure Islamic terrorist (err, "liberation") groups are noted in separate articles. It has that "European" writing style: each sentence is written tightly, void of wordiness and each most informative. It is written in an unbiased, neutral manner. Islamic militants will be disappointed that it doesn't editorialize in condemning everything regarding Israel (err, "the Occupied Zionist Territory"). If there is a shortcoming to this dictionary, it fails to allow the strident "intensity of belief" flavor of the militant Palestinian perspective to come through. But then this is a dictionary, not a passionate political tract. I find that some of the "why" is missing besides the listed "fact." For example: (a) While "Rashidun" is defined as the first four "rightly guided caliphs" who followed the Muslim Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), it is not mentioned "why" the first four are called the "rightly guided"...that is because they were the only caliphs to personally know Muhammad and thereby are considered amongst all of the caliphs to possess the best understanding of his teachings. (b) Regarding its "Arab-Israel War (1948)" article it notes that Palestinians objected to the creation of the state of Israel because they considered it a "violation of their right to self-determination." Okay, that is a Western "politically correct" statement; too bad they didn't give the true reason: that Muslims know that Muhammad expelled the Jews from the Arabia region and therefore no independent Jewish state can be birthed from Muslim territory. (c) Regarding its article on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, while it notes that "His visit to the Temple Mount...in September 2000 sparked Muslim riots", it fails to give "why" the Jew wanted to cross the road: Sharon believed that the 1948 cease-fire guaranteed that Jews could visit the Temple Mount, and so he requested and obtained approval from the Palestinian Authority prior to his stroll (Bodansky, "The High Cost of Peace," p.353-4). But, this is a dictionary, not an encyclopedia. There are few photographs; you get your money's worth in the well-written words. Fortunately it does not provide much "ancient" Biblical history to the Palestinian conflict; concentrating instead on events developing since the start of the 1880s Zionist movement to settle Jews in Palestine, and primarily since the 1940s -- but strong even in the 2000-2004 Intifada era. It concentrates on the "political" disputes and personalities, rather than on any lengthy analysis of the religious chasm between the peoples. Given its price, you will probably want to view it at your library before buying it. I don't know of a substitute for it.

Update notes: (a) the full title is "Dictionary of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Culture, History, and Politics". (b) there are 2 volumes..."Volume 1: A-J" (pages 1-259) and "Volume 2: K-Z" (pages 260-517). (c) there are 4 different ISBNs: ISBN 0-02-865977-5 (2 vol. set hardcover); ISBN 0-02-865978-3 (vol.#1); ISBN 0-02-865979-1 (vol.#2); ISBN 0-02-865996-1 (e-book). This revised 2005 English-language edition was originally issued in French in 2002. By "revised" I mean that its "Yasir Arafat" article even mentions his death in November 2004, and updates to just before the start of the early 2005 Sharon-Abbas rapprochement. A very impressive compilation of about 1,500 articles relating to the overall Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some articles contain only two sentences of commentary; others are two pages long. It frequently provides both Arabic and Hebrew words for various subjects. It details not only dozens of political parties throughout the Middle East, but it also provides short biographies of even obscure politicians involved in the Palestine controversy throughout the world -- past and present. It provides the names and dates of various Israeli military operations throughout Palestine. It details the main issues at the annual Arab League summits between 1964-2004. Obscure Islamic terrorist groups are noted in separate articles. It has that "European" writing style: each sentence is written tightly, void of wordiness and each most informative. It is written in an unbiased, neutral manner. Islamic militants will be disappointed that it doesn't editorialize in condemning everything regarding Israel. If there is a shortcoming to this dictionary, it fails to allow the strident "intensity of belief" flavor of the militant Palestinian perspective to come through. But then this is a dictionary, not a passionate political tract. My one criticism regarding its article on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is that while it notes that "His visit to the Temple Mount...in September 2000 sparked Muslim riots", it fails to give the background that Sharon's visit had been approved by the Palestinian Authority (Bodansky, "The High Cost of Peace," p.354). Fortunately there are few photographs; you get your money's worth in the well-written words. Fortunately it does not provide much "ancient" Biblical history to the Palestinian conflict; concentrating instead on events developing since the start of the 1880s Zionist movement to settle Jews in Palestine, and primarily since the 1940s -- but strong even in the 2000-2004 Intifada era. It concentrates on the "political" disputes and personalities, rather than on any lengthy analysis of the religious chasm between the peoples. Given its price, you will probably want to view it at your library before buying it. I don't know of a substitute for it.

In my studies of Mesopotamia, I had never really known much about Dilmun and Magan, places which are mentioned in several Mesdopotamian texts. My choice was between Geoffrey Bibby's book on Dilmun published in 1972, and this book which was published in 1998. Having read Professor Crawford's book `Sumer and the Sumerians' I finally decided on her book primarily because it was more recent.

The book, which focuses on the period 5000-1700BC, is a detailed survey of the findings from about 125 archaeological sites on the Arabian side of the Persian Gulf from the island of Falaika at the head of the Gulf, the `Eastern Province' of Arabia including Tarut Island and the Bahrain Islands, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates to the Musandum at the Straits of Hormuz, the interior sites of Oman and the coastal sites along the east side of that peninsula down to the most easterly point of the Arabian Peninsula at Ras al Junayz.

Chapter 1: The Setting, describes the physical setting of the area, and provides the rationale for identifying Dilmun with the Eastern Province and the islands of Bahrain, while noting that references to Dilmun in the Mesopotamian texts may have referred to different parts of this area at different times The copper rich sites in Oman is the reason for identifying it with Magan whose copper mines were of considerable importance to the Sumerian and Akkadian dynasties.

Chapter 2: The Earliest Settlements, covers the archaeological sites for the earliest period period of human settlement in the Eastern Province and Bahrain from about 5000BC to 3000BC which is the time of the Ubaid, Uruk, and Jemdat Nasr periods in Mesopotamia. Current archaeological evidence is sparse, but it seems that after the initial settlement phase during the 5th millenium, these were largely deserted during most of the 4th millenium until the Jemdat Nasr period when contacts between these areas and Mesopotamia revive.

Chapter 3: The Development of Dilmun, covers the archaological sites and textual evidence of the 3rd millenium. There is little evidence of settlement in the Eastern Province and Bahrain until about 2500BC, when the first urban settlement developed on Tarut Island where workshops for pottery manufacture, and other material such as lapis lazuli, copper, and steatite have been excavated. On Bahrain Island itself, the vast area of ancient burial mounds at Saar date from around 2500BC and were built and often reused over a period of about 2000 years lasting into the Hellenistic age. Professor Crawford points out that over the past 30 years surveys and excavation of newly identified towns and villages show that enough local people lived on the island to fill the graves, arguing against the hypothesis that Bahrain was a necropolis for Mesopotamian royalty and aristocracy.

Chapters 4 and 5 cover the period 2000-1750BC when there was a dramatic expansion of settlement on Bahrain This is the so-called period of `Early Dilmun', when it appears that Bahrain traders acted as the middlemen between the states of lower Mesopotamia and the mining businesses of the Oman Peninsula. The evidence for settlement, the architecture of domestic, workshop, and temple buildings, graves, and artefacts is described in considerable detail.

Chapters 6 and 7 cover the same things for the Oman Peninsula, where direct contact with Mesopotamia seems to have been replaced by contacts with cities in Central Asia and with the Harappan cities on the Indus River.

Chapter 8 provides an overview of the Development and Decline of Dilmun.

This is a thorough and up to date study of the findings from the archaeological sites along the south side of the Arabian (Persian) Gulf and the Oman Peninsula. Of the 250+ references in the bibliography, fully two thirds were published in the 15 years immediately prior to the publication of this book in 1998. The descriptions of the architecture of buildings and tombs is well supported by photographs and illustrations, and the differences and similarity in styles between the two areas is also very clear. There are several maps showing the general area of most settlements, but only about half of the named sites are shown on any map. I eventually found a more detailed map of Oman and the UAE on the web, but still had to resort to Internet searches for information on those sites which I couldn't find on this map. Even so, this left about a dozen which were not listed in the index, and for which I have no idea as to even their general location. A small point perhaps, but I find that knowing where things are is helpful to my understanding.

A similar observation can be made about dates. I recognize that it is obviously very difficult to pinpoint 3rd - 5th millenium dates with any certainty, but it would have helped if the author had included some kind of dating line even if it was broken down into every 250 years. I eventually developed one for myself but I still have some doubts about its accuracy.

This is a fairly short book (the main body of the text is only 156 pages), but the level of detail is such that I found a single reading was insufficient for me to truly absorb what I was reading. As a result I had to reread it several times and make copious notes on the findings by site and time period. While this is not a criticism of the book it does mean that if you want to get the most from this book, then a quick read through is not going to do it unless you are very familiar with the latest archaelogical information.

In this book, professor Crawford provides an excellent, up-to-date report on what is presently known about the ancient society of Dilmun and others in the Persian Gulf area. Three areas are reported upon: North-western Arabia, Bahrain (Dilmun), and Oman (Magan). The author exhaustively reports on archaeological findings (including architecture, burial items, pottery, and more), analyzing their significance, but avoiding any broad speculation.

I can't say enough about this book. If you want to know what is presently known about Dilmun and Magan, but wish to avoid the extreme speculation (if not outright guesswork) of many books, then this book is for you!