Middle East Books

This is a vivid chronological history of the civilization of ancient Egypt from its foundation some 5000 years ago to its conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE - effectively the first half of written human history. It is based on Professor Hornung's unrivalled knowledge of archaeological and documentary evidence, and provides as straightforward a story as the varied nature and extent of that evidence allows.
From 3050BCE through to around 642CE Egyptian culture developed and evolved, leaving the modern student with so much to decipher and understand that it might just take a lifetime! This book is ideal for anyone who wants to enrich their knowledge and understanding of Egyptian magick and religion through an understanding the history of this ancient culture.
The book works through the different stages of cultural and political development in ancient Egypt, working from the Archaic period through the old, middle and new kingdoms and the late period. The Chronology at the start of the book provides an excellent time line reference guide. Both the author and translators are distinguished Egyptologists and this book is evidently the result of much research and work, and is as such highly recommended for all interested in history and particular Egyptology.

Extremely well translated by American Egyptologist David Lorton, Hornung's book covers the history of Ancient Egypt from its Archaic to its Late Periods. It provides a concise description of important events through historical facts. A thorough yet brief explanation of political, economical, social, literary and artistical changes of Ancient Egyptian society leads to the development of the kingdoms. Black and white photographs, an excellent bibliography and a glossary explaining commonly used Egyptological terms accompany the main body. Recommended for professionals and amateurs.

The reader is provided with what can only be described as a scrupulously documented and indispensable reference, that is a must read for any individual interested in a complete history of Palestine - especially in relation to the period dating from the Muslim conquest until that of the Crusaders.

Drawing on many historic Muslim, Christian and Jewish sources/texts/references, this study proceeds to reveal how the Muslim conquest of Palestine began before the death of Muhammad and how it subsequently subdued the population of Jews and Christians.

For the purposes of a review, it is impossible to refer to all the issues covered in a study of this depth and magnitude that spans nearly 1,000 pages, so for those interested I shall select only a few.

Early in this work, brief reference is provided to the events surrounding the Jewish revolt against Roman rule which culminated in 135AD with the "Diaspora", the renaming of the Jewish homeland as Syria Palestina (eventually anglicised into `Palestine') and the renaming of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina..

The book documents how the period AD135 until AD638 saw the enforced separation of the Jews from Jerusalem and their most Holy site. Reference also being made to how this purportedly formed the integral basis of the convictions held by the "early Church Fathers" which resulted in so much anti-Semitism (hatred of the Jews).

At the time of the Muslim conquest the book illustrates how, despite the Diaspora, the majority of the population was indeed Jewish who referred to the Land as al-Sham (the Samaritans also being inclusive in this majority). The Jewish population itself is shown in this work, to not only be "survivors from the revolt against the Romans", but also to consist of the "direct descendants" of the generations of Jews who had lived there since the days of Joshua bin Nun.

In other words, a continual Jewish presence spanning some 2,000 years prior to the Islamic conquest.

The book also illustrates how the Jewish connection with the Temple Mount , Moses, David and Solomon was present in the minds of the Muslims during the conquests and that the prior injunction preventing Jewish access to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount (which had been used as a rubbish dump) was even initially revoked by the Muslims. Having said this, the book refers to some conflicting/contradictory information in relation to these issues.

The Muslim conquest of Palestine is described as opening an entirely "new page" in Palestine's history, amid a period that is shown to witness almost "unceasing warfare". The study stressing that the goal during the initial phases of the Islamic invasion of Palestine was to compel the nomadic tribes around the border to accept Islam and consolidate around Muhammad. The study citing numerous campaigns that are described as being "cruel" and accompanied by "rebuke and chastisement".

The reader is provided with references throughout. Having access to such detailed historical credentials it is difficult to weigh any Arab/Islamic/Palestinian claim to this land against that of the Jews who preceded them. The land being shown in this study to have been systematically and violently "de-populated" through Jihads, and then re-populated with Muslims/Arabs etc.. The Jewish and Christian populations described herein shown to have been subjected to the regulations imposed on the non-Muslims that were "vanquished" by jihad ("holy war") during which many Churches and Synagogues are cited as having been destroying by the invading tribes.

Indeed, the book provides some attention to the aforementioned "dhimmi" status afforded the non-Muslims and the adverse affects imposed upon their lives.

Amongst the outward manifestations detailed herein that are described as portraying the purported inferiority and humiliation suffered by non-Muslims, is the enforced wearing of distinguishing yellow marks by Jews and blue by Christians. The reader is provided with an ominous foretaste of what awaited the Jews in the 20th Century during the Holocaust.

The book culminates in the effects upon the population of Palestine, including the slaughter of the Jews, during the ensuing "Crusades".

Might I also respectfully recommend the following books to anyone interested in a detailed history pertaining to the region.

"Empires Of The Sands; The Struggle for Mastery in the Middle East, 1789 - 1923" by Inari & Efraim Karsh.
"From Time Immemorial; The Origins of the Arab - Jewish Conflict Over Palestine" by Joan Peters.
"A Peace To End All Peace; The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace" by David Fromkin.
"The Palestine War 1948" by Efraim Karsh.

Thank you for your time.

Middle East scholars have lauded "A History of Palestine, 634-1099" as the most comprehensive historiography of Palestine from the initial Arab Muslim conquests, until the arrival of the Crusaders in 1099. Remarkably, despite the constraints of academic annotation, and the uncertainties of translation (i.e., from Hebrew to English), Professor Gil's narrative is eminently readable for the non-professional student of history. Through the clear, dispassionate presentation of a rich profusion of data, he captures the stark, unromantic reality of Muslim ruled Palestine during this 465-year period.

Professor Gil begins with a survey of events before the Arab Muslim invasion. He also notes the singular centrality that Palestine occupied in the mind of its pre-Islamic Jewish inhabitants, who referred to the land as "al-Sham". Indeed, as Gil observes, the sizable Jewish population in Palestine (who formed a majority of its inhabitants, when grouped with the Samaritans) at the dawn of the Arab Muslim conquest were "..the direct descendants of the generations of Jews who had lived there since the days of Joshua bin Nun, in other words for some 2000 years..". The 465-year period carefully surveyed by Gil comprises the following stages: the Arab Muslim conquest and establishment, from 634 to 661; the Umayyad-Damascene rule, from 661 until 750; the Abbasid-Baghdadian rule, from 750 through 878; Turco-Egyptian rule- Tulunids and Ikshidids- from 878 until 970- "interrupted" by Abbasid-Baghdadian rule again, between 905 and 930; nearly two generations of war including numerous participants, the dominant party being the Fatimids, from 970 through 1030; just over 40-years of Fatimid-Egyptian rule, between 1030 and 1071; and a generation of Turkish rule encompassing most of Palestine, from 1071 until 1099.

Gil offers a particularly revealing assessment of dhimmitude (i.e., the regulations imposed on the non-Muslims vanquished by jihad), and its adverse impact on these conquered, indigenous peoples, in chapter 3 pages, pages 139 to 161. For example, excessive, arbitrarily imposed taxation in the first quarter of the 11th century lead to the destitution, imprisonment, torture, and death of many Jews living in Jerusalem. However, the clearest outward manifestations of this imposed inferiority and humiliation were the prohibitions regarding dhimmi dress "codes", and the demands that distinguishing signs be placed on the entrances of dhimmi houses. During the Abbasid caliphates of Harun al-Rashid (786-809) and al-Mutawwakil (847-861), Jews and Christians were required to wear yellow ( as patches attached to their garments, or hats). Later, to differentiate further between Christians and Jews, the Christians were required to wear blue. Finally, in 850, consistent with Koranic verses and hadith (sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad) associating them with Satan and Hell, al-Mutawwakil decreed that Jews and Christians attach wooden images of devils to the doors of their homes to distinguish them from the homes of Muslims.

Near the end of his extensive, scrupulously documented presentation, Gil offers this sobering assessment: "..These facts do not call for much interpretation; together they simply form a picture of almost unceasing insecurity, of endless rebellions and wars, of upheavals and instability..".

I first encountered this extraordinary history back in the early '70s as a medieval student and then again some years ago beyond study and therefore with considerably more money-at least compared to a student-and I was able to purchase this wonderful set.

I freely admit not having read the three volumes cover to cover but have parachuted in to various topics within the span of information covered by the set and I can attest to the brilliance of Runciman's writing. He represents the best of historical writing in that he is the undoubted master of his sources and their subject matter but he can also convey the extraordinary complexity of these centuries in a writing style that is at once understandable and also colourful. To my mind he is the best of the best because, as undoubted master of his subject, he is also able to tease out and convey the human interest, the drama and the wrenching saddness of all that was the Crusades.

Steven Runciman has transcended history as few other historians of any time have been able to do. He has imbued the structure of history with the richness of a night at the opera or theatre-the reader is presented with the panoply of humanness at every turn and I believe this is the true mark of a master's hand.

This book, often published as three volumes is the definitive history of the crusades. It is at once a tremendously entertaining and gripping story, and an academically accurate account that stimulates one to further enquiry. His account is so alive it is as if one was reading events unfolding in a newspaper day by day and the destruction of Constantinople was only yesterday.

Runciman tells the story of the West's response to the fall of Jerusalem to the Arabs, and their unexpected success in reconquering it. Throughout the story the Christian west, the Byzantine Empire, and the Arab world are painted with all their good and bad points.

No one comes out of this story without fault, but Runciman points out that there was a tremendous invigoration of western civilization through its contact with the Byzantine and Arab world. The short lived Kingdom of Jerusalem became in a way an experiment in East-West civilization that ultimately was destroyed by the arrival of later crusaders whose enthusiasm for attacking the Arabs (with whom the earlier crusaders had learned to live in relative peace) was not matched by their numbers or competence. Runciman notes that Arab distrust of the West had its roots in this time.

A great introduction to Byzantine, Arabic, or Latin history. See also the work of JJ Norwich on Byzantium and the Normans in Sicily

Jamil M. Abun-Nasr's History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period is a finely detailed tapestry which sweeps from the early days of the Al-Moravids in Morocco to the post-colonial regimes in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. While the book is academic in tone, it is so well written as to be accessible to the casual reader, so long as one is willing to come to grips with the intracacies of Maghreban dynastic politics.

While I learned more from the first half of the book, which discusses pre-Modern Maghreban history; the second portion covering the modern era was particularly relevant in light of the recent rioting in France. Abun-Nasr vividly describes how the European powers - under the guise of bringing civilization - ruthlessly exploited their North African colonies, and to some degree continue to do so to this day. Although the fruits of their policies were most bitter in Algeria, it is clear that throughout the Maghrib the European powers' short-sighted pursuit of commercial gain had long-term repercussions for everyone involved.

This is one of the few books that you can buy on the history of North West Africa that can be read again and again. There is a wealth of information contained in this book which covers (as the title suggests) North West Africa's history from the 7th century Arab conquest until the recent present day.

The information contained within the book is concise and straight to the point. The author has obviously spent a great deal of time amassing a wealth of information on North West African history from a variety of Arabic, French and English sources for example, his extensive use of the great historian Wansharisi is of particular benefit when discussing the development of Islamic culture in North West Africa.

The book covers the various Islamic dynasties in the Maghrib, the society and culture of the region, the French, Portuguese and Spanish conquests of the region including the colonial period, independence and the nations struggle for self identity.

This is a first class book for students of Islamic history or African history and I would strongly recommend the book to University students studying subjects related to the region.

This brilliantly researched piece is true history at its best. Meticulously well done it is the only good history of the 1948 war, a masterpiece that is unfortunately only half completed. It details struggles, debates, raids and ambushes in the most honest and fair manner, using concrete evidence without bias and without politics. This book should be required reading for the Israeli-Arab conflict, however it is often brushed over to more easy to read shorter histories of the 1948 war. However despite this many volumed length of the project this is a grasping and exciting read, drawing on military and political topics, discussing minorities and often unheard of events. All students of the middle east and Israel and military history will enjoy this.

Volume I looks into the history, the 1936 rebellion, the organizations, and of course most importantly the Haganah intelligence efforts. It also examines the role of Ben-Gurion as leaders.

Seth J. Frantzman

Uri Milstein's History of the War of Independence (volumes 1-3 have been translated into English from Hebrew) reveals that while the Yishuv was prepared to defend itself against Arab riots and disturbances, the Hagana was forced to re-organize itself for conventional war even as the war was beginning. A reader can derive from this that the Yishuv won the war mainly because the Palestinian Arabs and Arab states were even less prepared and less organized than the Yishuv's military forces. Milstein explains that Ben-Gurion had expected to have another few years to train and arm the Yishuv before the war began, and had not wanted to rely on the Haganah (trying to set up a "shadow staff" of British-trained officers). Upon taking the defence portfolio, Ben-Gurion sought to come to an understanding of the Haganah's inner workings by conducting one-one-one interviews with Haganah leaders in a six-month "seminar." These books are very helpful for understanding the events of the war, Ben-Gurion's personality as a politician and military leader (strengths and weaknesses) and the relationship Ben-Gurion had with the Haganah and Palmah leaders. I would suggest that these books be read in conjunction with Benny Morris's "The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem" and "Israel's Border Wars", Avi Shlaim's "Collusion Across the Jordan," and Tom Segev's "1949: The New Israelis."

I put the cd into my computer and was just amazed at what I saw. The pictures and videos of Israel were beautiful the music was inspiring and it was very educational. Pastors, teachers, and everyone who have an interest in Israel would benifit from this Holy Land Experience!

I have never in my life seen such an empressive depiction of the Holy Land! Everything about the program is excellently done. It's easy to use, the music is inspiring, the videos, pictures, and descriptions give you a real sense of Israel and its significance to Christians. I would encourage anyone interested in Israel to buy this product.

I picked up this book and could not put it down, great read lots of interesting content. I would suggest buying some for gifts.

This is an excellent short book covering a topic I had always taken for granted: but jammed packed with political, historical, biblical, archeological connections of the Jewish people to the Land going back 3000 years, and meticulously documented and footnoted. I think this book could be a worthwhile text, especially for students- it is very factual, laying out the evidence. In today's media, which whitewashes, ignores and is ignorant of the indisputable and continuous connection of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel- which
G-d promised to them in perpetuity- this is a critical text. The Jewish people were there (and always remained)more than a thousand years before Christians and a millenium and a half before Muslims (whose religion was not even founded until the 7th Century). To not recognize this is to deny the historical record. Period. Jerry Verlin does a great job in telling this story in amazing detail.

This book is very well organized and edited, and it includes a helpful index. It contains the stories of Palestinians from all walks of life. Some of them are tragic, others disturbing, and still others heartwarming. The translations are very good. It also steers clear of all the usual clichés about Israelis and Palestinians.
If you've ever wondered how Israeli policies over the last 50 years have opressed Palestinians and helped to create both their rage and despair, I recommend that you read this book.

facts cannot be doubted, this is a real good read, gives a great overview on the whole problem of the MiddleEast.
go on, have a look!

This book is about the history of modern Zionism, from the late nineteenth century until the declaration of statehood in 1948. The first half of the book takes us through the First Aliyah (including some interesting material about the "Ugandan option"), the Second Aliyah, and World War One. I think that the significance of the misadventures of the Jewish community during World War One is sometimes overlooked by those who discuss the history of Israel, so this is an important section.

The rest of the book takes us through the 1930s, World War Two, and the postwar struggle for independence. This is a topic that has been discussed in a huge number of other books, many of them extremely political in nature. Stein simply is not able in this summary to deal with all the detailed issues here, but I think he does a good job of covering the major events. Some people have praised the balance the author has shown in this book, but Stein gets plenty of opportunities to let us know his opinions.

I like this book and I think it is an excellent introduction to the subject. For a summary, this book is surprisingly thorough, and I think Stein ought to be commended for writing it.

Leslie Stein, a Senior Research Fellow at Macquarie University in Sydney Australia, has given us a highly readable work of impeccable scholarship. Noting that most studies of Israel focus on post-1948 developments, Stein has filled the need for a study of the creation of Israel from its modern origins up to the achieving of Statehood in 1948.

Reading this book is somewhat like reading a mystery where you already know the ending but have never read the plot. The first and middle chapters are a fascinating background, and then the inevitable conclusion unfolds in the last two chapters with an onrush of climactic action. At many points the reader wonders how, given all the obstacles it faced, could Israel have emerged as a modern State? This is the drama that Leslie Stein relates.

One could argue that had it not been for Russian anti-Semitism there would have been no Zionist movement and no subsequent State of Israel. It was the Russian pogroms, oppression and massacres of mid-19th Century that drove Jews out as refugees, looking for a place to live in peace. And then there was the venality and corruption of the Turkish Ottoman officials who took bribes to allow Jews to become lawful residents in Palestine with permission to purchase land. Then later, more persecution in Poland and more refugees. And so on.

Throughout the 1800's, all across Europe, Eastern Europe and Russia there were a number of thinkers and writers who promoted establishing a Jewish homeland. But the Zionist movement was given its greatest inspiration by the Herculean efforts of one charismatic person, Theodor Herzl. He was an intellectual, a diplomat and tireless lobbyist for a Jewish homeland. He traveled non-stop to all the heads of State of every country that would receive him to press his agenda, and literally worked himself to death at age forty-four in 1904. Herzel's prophetic vision of the Jewish State was one founded on capitalism and democracy - not theocracy.

It is difficult to review this outstanding book without going into an over abundance of detail, so I will describe just three aspects of Israel's history that remain vivid in my mind:

First are the physical hardships that faced the early settlers in the 1800's. The land was unforgiving. For a "promised land" this was one of the most Godforsaken places on the planet. The photographs from the Zionist archives show the bleakness of the landscape. There are many vivid sketches and photos that accompany the text. For instance page 160 shows women wearing long dresses, outdoors on a hillside, pounding rocks for road construction. (The question comes to mind, why are there no Arab photos of women pounding rocks for road construction? Or more generally, why are there no Arab photos of anything?)

Second are the amazing accomplishments of this small band of devoted people under the most adverse and trying conditions. Through unrelenting physical and intellectual effort by the 1940's Israel had plants producing industrial machinery, automobile parts, textiles, agricultural equipment, medical and electrical instruments, chemical and pharmaceutical products, shipbuilding, a diamond polishing industry and an oil refinery. In many individual industries progress was phenomenal. (At this stage the Arabs had not yet learned how to crush rocks, but were throwing them.)

Third was the terrible treatment the Jews received at the hands of Great Britain in the run-up to and during WWII. The ideology of German fascism had permeated the Arab countries due to its appeal of anti-Semitism. There was active collaboration of the Arabs with the Nazis. Britain was afraid the Arab countries would enter the war on the side of the fascists and cut off access to Middle Eastern oil so they took an anti-Israel stance.

Britain did everything it could to prevent Jews from immigrating to Israel. At times there was open warfare by Britain against the Jews in Israel who were trying to smuggle in as many refugees as possible to save them from the death camps in Germany. Then, in February 1945 just as the war was drawing to a close, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Saudi-Arabia declared war on Germany so they could become eligible for UN membership. This was a dark period in the history of England.

Finally on May 14, 1948 Israel announced its Statehood and Declaration of Independence. President Truman of the U.S. immediately recognized Israel as an independent State. This action by Truman no doubt helped fortify the resolve of Israel, when on the following day it faced the invading armies of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Transjordan. Israel did not succumb to this invasion. It went on to gather millions of Jewish exiles over the years, and to become a modern, democratic, industrial state. But, as Stein concludes, "it has yet to enjoy the benefits of a peaceful existence that so many other countries take for granted."

If you have not read this book you do not really know much of importance about the origins of terrorism and how the seemingly endless conflicts in the Middle East came about. It did not start in 'Biblical times' as is often asserted but in colonial times--with the emphasis on British colonial manipulations.

At the time this book was written it was a ground-breaking look at how completely Middle East politics has been run as a British colonial plantation with dumb Americans chiming in as geopolitical scapegoats for several post-FDR decades. It rings true today more than 25 years later as the Dick Cheney beats the drums for a British-inspired tune entitled 'Nuke Iran.'

The history of these lands is so complex that his book are a welcome sigh of relief: he writes clearly and shows the origins of the going ons. Learning the whys and hows of the development of that history DEFINITIVELY make you re-evaluate your attitudes toward many figureheads. The massive crossover of disciplines (intellectuals of all fields) that shaped the ideological/political developments of these lands (and eventually of the modern world) are bewildering. Any reader will be amazed to find out the interests/implications of freemason societies, media and government agents that took active roles.