Middle East Books

Jacob Rosen, a seasoned diplomat writes a serious, but entertaining book about his experiences in the diplomatic world which takes him on assignments throughout the Arab world. A collection of short stories that at times can be very amusing and at others, quite thought provoking. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to get a better understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict throughan unreported look at the culture and every day life of Arabs and Israelis.

Hello Jacob, I loved your book. I understand now that the problems in the Middle East are not so easy to solve. But the world needs people like you, who have understanding for other meanings and believes. Your stories are short but do have a deeper meening and are somethimes very sad. I hope that a new book of you will soon be ready. I will again order it a.s.a.p. at Amazon.com.
best regards and greetings to your family.

Jacob Rosen's book is hilarious, as well as serious
in parts, giving an insight into the peoples of the
Middle East.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to
know and understand the different nations living side
by side, who do not even understand themselves!
An excellent light hearted short-story book of the
daily lives of the average person in the Middle East
and which should be read by and be on the bookshelves
of every home and book shop in the region.

Well, done Mr. Rosen for sharing your experiences
and having this book published for the world to
read.

If you want to read a book that can bring you to a deeper grasp of the Arab culture, try this one. Mr. Rosens book brings to your table a thoroughly digestable understanding of the ins and outs of Arab life.

I've heard this book had a hard time getting published, before it received an award for best book on American diplomacy in its year and got strong endorsements from Henry Kissinger, George Schultz, and others on that level. I guess that says something about how willing US publishers are to expose hard truths that the book was finally self-published. Cursed is a well-written, meticulously detailed and documented independent writer's investigation into some sad realities of our recent history in Lebanon, alongside an admiring portrait of the late US diplomat Philip Habib and a scathing one of Ariel Sharon. If you wonder why diplomacy might be tough, especially given the US agenda in the Middle East, this book will give you some insights. If you're thinking about going into the Foreign Service, this book will draw the veil aside.

Here is a true and engaging story that goes to the heart of a
bloody feud unresolved since 1947. "Cursed is the Peacemaker" is
the go-to book for the historical drama of what it took to
negotiate that brief shining moment when there was-- as close as
it gets-- to a cease-fire between Israelis vs. Palestinians and
others in the Arab world.

Author John Boykin (a former editor at Stanford Magazine)
recounts the gripping story through the eyes and viewpoint of
Philip Habib, Reagan's Special Envoy charged with the enormous
task of staunching the bloodshed and destruction in Beirut in
1982...in 1947 and left with an unfulfilled United Nations mandate that
was to have been, like Israel, the provision for their homeland,
some Palestinians relocated to West Beirut where Palestinian
leaders carried on the battle against Israel, which retaliated.
In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon and laid siege to Beirut to
destroy the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) once and
for all. The PLO is the umbrella of organizations that leads the
Palestinian diaspora.

President Reagan gave Habib, the Brooklyn-born son of Lebanese
immigrants, the task of talking to the warring sides and
persuading them to make some changes. Everything from vitally
important matters down to the price of Israeli pickles was thrown
on the table and it was up to Habib to sort it out. He convinced
the Israelis to stop shooting long enough for thousands of
Palestinian guerrillas to sail from the Mediterranean port city
under the watchful eyes of a multi-national force of 800 U.S.
Marines, 900 French and 500 Italian soldiers. This was no easy
feat. Habib persuaded the Palestinians to leave their families
behind in the West Beirut refugee areas of Sabra and Shatila with
their safety guaranteed by the multi-national force and the word
of Ariel Sharon.

This very readable story explains how imperfectly Habib
accomplished his task and yet how Habib's work stands as the
blueprint for the diplomacy that a person of iron will and
stature will need if ever there is to be a negotiated end to
this war that rips at the heartland of Christian, Jewish and
Muslim civilizations.

Boykin recounts the history in an engaging way and he's careful
not to assert his own opinions. The viewpoints he presses are
those that he documents were those of Habib, the talented, hard-
working, often gruff U.S. negotiator.

The book's completeness is a tribute to Boykin's persistence in
using, among other resources, the Freedom Of Information Act,

archives at Georgetown University's Foreign Affairs Oral History
Program, and extensive interviews with Habib's peers, his bosses
and underlings to piece together this important story about a
critical juncture in the life of an historical figure who
steadfastly refused to talk to reporters during negotiations.

Boykin provides the listening post for readers to "overhear" the
blunt conversations between Habib and the Marine Colonel James
Mead whom Habib came to rely upon to keep warring parties apart.
But Mead was no patsy. While he came to grudgingly respect Habib,
he was protective of those in his command. Boykin lays out the
negotiating positions of the various sides, noting that the
intransigence, the absolutist positions by Israel and Syria were
non starters.

Boykin conducted interviews with dozens of well-known diplomatic
players who knew Habib well-- everyone from Nobel Laureate Oscar
Sanchez Arias to Henry Kissinger (who knew Habib from his days
negotiating an end to the U.S. war in Viet Nam).

It can safely be said that there can be no peace in the Middle
East until there is a measure of justice for the massacre at
Sabra and Shatila, refugee camps that resemble acres of the
crowded tenement buildings that dot working class areas of New
York City. In these camps, Christian Phalangists went door to
door wantonly murdering more than 800 Palestinians while Israeli
soldiers stood guard seeing to it that no Palestinian could
escape. Details of what led to the massacre, for which even the
Israelis hold Ariel Sharon culpable, are of historical
importance.

Boykin describes what went on behind the scenes just before the
massacre of Palestinians on September 16-18, 1982. It was the
tragedy Habib had labored all summer to prevent and in the end,
he didn't, in part because Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger
withdrew the Marines who were charged with keeping the warring
parties apart. When the Marines left, the French and Italians
also left Beirut. That their families would be protected was the
key to persuading the Palestinians to lay down their guns and
leave Beirut. That Ariel Sharon broke his word and allowed his
soldiers to stand guard while mass murder was committed can not
be glossed over, especially since two decades later, Sharon
became Israel's elected leader.

This story is a microcosm for what has gone wrong in the Middle
East. If peace is to come to the region, this story may contain
kernels of the reconstructed blueprint for what, along with iron will, is needed to find a peaceful solution.

"Cursed is the Peacemaker" tells the story of how legendary diplomat Philip Habib negotiated an end to the Israeli siege of Beirut in 1982. The book is based on declassified documents and interviews with friends and colleagues of Habib. It is well-written and does a great job of conveying the atmospherics and intrigue of a sensitive, high-level diplomatic mission. As pure diplomatic history, however, it leaves much to be desired, since it glosses over the negotiating details and often fails to put developments into a broader political context -- at times, the history gets buried beneath the war stories, great quotes, inside-Washington gossip, and focus on Habib's colorful personality. But these are quibbles: the book is a real page-turner. Anyone interested in State Department history or the modern Middle East will love it.

Habib told Asad of Syria, he (Habib) was nothing if not a man of principle.
Habib saw in Hafiz Asad a staunch supporter.
Rigidly and puritanically attached to neutrality considering the political animosities between Lebanon (Bashir) and Syria (Asad), Habib was labelled `adventurous' when he took and maintained firm stand supporting the election of Bashir Gemayel to the Presidency of Lebanon.

Habib's faith never faltered at times USA's image was construed as one of vacillation and indecision.
From the beginning, he kept reminding his listeners that USA traditional policy, for the better sake of each party, had been to maintain neutrality.
Initially he had come to Lebanon strenuously dedicated to easing the tension between PLO and Israel, to find himself walking on tight rope attached to four corners, Israel/Lebanon/PLO/Syria, and each side had his `knife' readily available to cut the rope.

His biggest pressure was to put an end to civilians' bloodshed preceded only by Mother Theresa.

Philip Habib had an impressive opponent in the person of Menahim Begin the Prime Minister of Israel, but perhaps his main challenge remained the portly protective and aggressive shadow of Ariel Sharon.

Dar es Salaam is one of those novels that captures a young woman's soul. Tara Kai takes the reader into a world filled with questions and thoughts of a girl named Tatum. Her experiences and feelings for the characters in the novel help one understand a young woman's mind and ideas. I believe every girl and woman can relate to any of the women in this story. The novel has an original voice and it truly stands out on its own. Tara expresses the events and ideas in the book beautifully (and let me say... GREAT ending!) A very lovely book and a very gifted author.

Dar es Salaam is one of those novels that captures a young woman's soul. Tara Kai takes the reader into a world filled with questions and thoughts of a girl named Tatum. Her experiences and feelings for the characters in the novel help one understand a young woman's mind and ideas. I believe every girl and woman can relate to any of the women in this story. The novel has an original voice and it truly stands out on its own. Tara expresses the events and ideas in the book beautifully (and let me say... GREAT ending!) A very lovely book and a very gifted author.

Tara Kai manages to weave the world of illusion with the hard facts of reality in "Dar es Salaam." It is a wonderful work, detailing the mystifying beauty of Africa through the eyes of an adolescent 14-year-old, Tatum. Tatum's train-of-thoughts are innocently humorous, (particularly because the novel is written in the voice of a 14-year-old), and I think Kai is being critical on the commercialized notion of feminity and sex in popular women's magazines, such as Cosmopolitan and Seventeen.

Here we see how silly the love advices and how ludricrious magazines, geared towards women to tempt them to drastically change their appearance, really are. One almost feels sad for Tatum, and the characters are so real, that you feel that you want to grab Tatum by the collar and shake her into reality. Life-like and humourous, I recommend this book for anyone who loves fiction, and especially for those people who need a wake-up call to realize that there is more to life than the fine, glossy print of magazines.

Tara Kai's debut novel, Dar Es Salaam is the story of Tatum who is transitioning from a fanciful adolescent girl to a knowledgeable woman. Tatum travels with her family on vacation to the Tanzanian capital city of Dar es Salaam where she finds herself drawn to Mohammed (called Mo), a 40-year-old Indian man and friend of her stepfather. Tatum's attractions evolves into desire, then obsession, culminating in a resolute and emotional manipulation of the older man by the much younger girl. A deeply engaging, ultimately satisfying, highly recommended novel, Dar Es Salaam is deftly written, with the characters truly coming alive within the mind's eye of the reader.

A truly great book! Maoz has shown that Israel, like other nations, has failed to take in the best interests of its people by failing to see the outcome of their actions. That's not to say they always tried to do the wrong thing, but unfortunately it comes across that way. The United States and its disastrous war in Iraq is another example. Read and learn!

Prof. Maoz analyzes the evidence underlying the basic beliefs about Israel's military policy and history, held by most Israelis and supporters of Israel. From a pro-Israel perspective, Maoz's work is a call for change within Israel to promote new institutions that would lead to non-military solutions. The chapter pointing out the flaws in Israel's nuclear policy is extremely important in view of the current nuclear build-up in Iran.

I think even the detractors of this book will have to at least admit that this book is a very brave endeavor by the author. The analysis that Maoz gives us here is at times subjective which does leave the author open to criticism, but he takes such a scientific approach in analyzing the evidence that any critic will be hard pressed to find flaws in his methodology.

The book is not for the casual reader or those with just a passing interest in Israel or the Arab/Israeli conflict. The author uses almost fifty pages at the very beginning of the book to explain to readers his methodological approach to analysis of Israeli defense policy. I for one have never read such a detailed analysis of an approach to analysis before. Any potential reader should be prepared for a dense work that requires a lot from the reader.

If you decide to take on this book I think you will be rewarded with the best analysis of Israeli defense policy there is out there. The information is neutral and based on the best evidence available and presented in a rational and almost clinical fashion.

Maoz goes into great detail about how the IDF has had too much influence on policy making decisions within the government, and how civilian leadership has played a subservient role to defense needs. He goes on to explain how this lack of civilian leadership has created a process by which military solutions to conflicts take a priority role over political solutions. This has affected Israel's peace making efforts in the region. Israel has been all to willing to embark on some extremely risky military adventures to seek an end or at least an improvement vis-à-vis its neighbors, but at the same time Israel has been unwilling to try even moderately risky attempts at political solutions.

Maoz attributes some of this to the fact that Israel's founding elites instilled a siege mentality during the founding and early days of the Israeli state. Unfortunately this siege mentality has persisted even after the realities on the ground have taken on some fundamental changes. Israel now has a large conventional edge on all of its enemies, and Israel, for the foreseeable future, has no real existential threat from those states in the area. This does not mean that Israel is safe, but what it should mean is that Israel should have more political room to maneuver and seek political solutions that will further its security.

When Israel has taken some risk for political solutions it has benefited enormously, as when Israel finally accepted Sadat's overtures for negotiations which lead to the Israeli/Egyptian peace treaty. This peace, even though it has been a cold peace, has lifted an enormous burden from Israel. This should have been the template for Israeli peace policy towards its neighbors but unfortunately Israel seemed to take no lessons from this peace, but instead Israel insists on focusing on Arab rhetoric which is not grounded in reality nor are these states pursuing policies that could make their rhetoric a reality.

Israel is in a relatively safe position right now. They have an economic, social and military edge over every one of their potential enemies and Israel should try to capitalize on its improved position by bargaining for peace and establishing a WMD free zone in the Middle East. These types of policies could possibly go along way in bringing security to the Israeli state and it could lighten the defense burden which could free up money that is needed for infrastructure and social programs within Israel.

Maoz goes into all of this and more. His discussion of Israel's nuclear policy is fascinating, and his information on the economic aspects of Israel's defense policy and its economic situation as a whole was extremely elucidating. All in all I found this book to be an invaluable contribution to the discussion. This is one book that anyone who seriously studies this region and Israel cannot do without. I highly recommend this book.

This is a truly weird book. It is really big and thick, with all sorts of references. It's very scholarly. And it even discusses some interesting issues. But I still don't like it very much.

First of all, the topic is strange. Plenty of Arabs want to destroy Israel. Does it even make sense to ask what Israel ought to do? Israel is a small nation and it is at great risk no matter what it does. In any case, this book not only asks such a question but gives some answers.

Zeev Maoz appears to believe that most of Israel's wars were simply folly. After all, there are indications that with hindsight, Israel had other options! Well, maybe that's true. But most nations make plenty of errors when they have to make decisions about whether or not to fight a war. In my opinion, Israel has done an above average job here. And even Maoz points out that he is not trying to deny that other nations (especially the Arabs) have often made far worse decisions than has Israel; he just wants to point out where Israel could have done better in the past and where it could improve in the future.

I disagree most with the author when he characterizes various Israeli wars as optional. The Israelis might indeed have avoided war for a short time by doing something else. The Israelis might even have gotten a couple of pieces of paper in exchange for something of real value at various times. But such speculations are not only counterfactual (that's not what happened, so we can't be totally sure it could have), they also ignore much of what might have happened after that.

As an annoying aside, this characterization of Israel's wars makes it look a little like the Israeli people and their leaders simply did not want to survive. After all, when the easiest way to die is to get into a war, it's suicidal to choose war when peace is available! I don't believe that the Israelis or their leaders have been suicidal, and I doubt that Maoz believes it, so I am wary of a book that might imply such nonsense.

Time after time, Maoz criticizes Israel for doing something that seemed reasonable at the time. Israel's serious attempts to avoid or deter the 1973 war look as though they are dismissed out of hand. When we get to the Arab attacks on Israel in 2000, Maoz casually (and very dubiously) blames the start of the violence on Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount! I don't mind asking a lot of tough questions, but I think Maoz goes overboard when he implies that virtually everything Israel has done has been wrong. He should have done a better job of separating really clear errors from decisions which made far more sense (and may even have been ideal).

Still, there is good news about the book. Maoz does ask about various Israeli strategies for retaliation against attacks (including limited ones). And I think these are very good questions to ask, even though they may, quite unfairly, imply that everything would be just fine were Israel to do the right thing all the time. There is also an interesting section dealing with Israel's nuclear strategy. Here, Israel is encouraged to give up its nuclear weapons as part of a deal to make the region free of such weapons. If it were that simple to make such a deal and have it honored, I think there would already be peace in the Middle East, so I am not so sure how brilliant Maoz is being here.

With all due respect to the author, I think this book exaggerates Israel's ability to influence its own future. I suspect that Maoz would (possibly quite correctly) reply that I am underestimating Israel's ability to do just that.

This historical book provides individual, personal in depth true accounts of the Dutch and Dutch-Indo's plight during and immediatiately following Japanese invasion and internment in the former Dutch East Indies during World War II. A truly inspiring book of courage and fortitude that gives the reader an opportunity to acquire an understanding of this turbulent period of time in the Pacific theater of war. An excellent and informative read of stories that need to be told.

My family is Indo (Dutch-Indonesian), and our family history has been oral. It was difficult to relay their story to American friends who had never heard of any atrocities of the second World War other than the holocaust. As it's noted in the book, "It is unconcionable to allow future generations to forget what happend in the Indies, just as it is folly to turn our backs on the holocaust in Europe."

Memory fades fast, and it's good that this history is written down to be remembered. I'm involved with some contemporary Dutch organizations, but I look different by my dusky skin, and sometimes I think that this book explains to the "whiter" Dutch what I am, and where I came from. Forgotten or not, I'm part of their culture.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I've read enough about the American internment camps that the Japanese-Americans were held, and while there is a great deal of sympathy towards them in the United States, what the Japanese did to the Dutch and Dutch-Indonesians shouldn't be forgotten either. I sometimes wonder if it isn't known as much in the US because it didn't take place in Europe.

This book consists of eyewitness accounts of various people, mostly Dutch nationals or Dutch colonists, who were caught up in seven long years of war -- beginning with the Japanese conquest of Indonesia (then known as the Dutch East Indies), the Second World War and the subsequent revolution by Soekarno and Hatta, Indonesian revolutionaries whose drive for independence was given the blessing of the Japanese.

The Dutch received an unfortunate smear -- "Dutch courage" -- as a result of a premature surrender to the Japanese; if what I've read is true, then this smear is undeserved (particularly in light of the British surrender at Singapore). This book should go a long way to rectifying that unearned stigma.

This is history they didn't teach us in school! Jan Krancher has compiled 24 personal accounts from survivors of a brutal -and nearly forgotten- episode of World War II: the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies and imprisonment of thousands of its people. This 3 1/2 year occupation was immediately followed by a bloody revolution and the creation of modern Indonesia.

These deeply moving stories, from civilian internees (including children) and military POW's, give the English-speaking reader a glimpse of what has been called the "other Holocaust", the brutalities of the Pacific War. You won't forget them.

If you liked the film "Paradise Road", you won't want to miss this book.

To anyone who wonders what a new book about the Korean War has to offer, Mr Patrick Roe?s magnificent work gives a most convincing answer. The writer is a military man and he analyzes the reasons and the strategy of the Chinese intervention in Korea in a masterful way, using a wealth of Chinese, Soviet, Korean and American sources. Every bit of detail is here, to satisfy even the most demanding reader: what was the status of the PLA in the eve of the Korean War, what was the military philosophy of Mao and his entourage, how the Soviets repeatedly let down the Chinese offering help and then changing their mind, how the PLA overcame great doubts (and fear) to go for the first time outside their own borders to fight against the most well-equipped force of the era, how the Chinese regarded the nuclear threat of the USA, which forces they employed, how and why, the reasons for choosing General Peng Te Huai to command the Chinese People?s Volunteers, a blow by blow analysis of the battles between the PLA and the UN forces in Korea during the first critical months and, of course, the many mistakes of the US intelligence services who underestimated the Chinese factor for a long time. Highly recommended!

Review of Roe, The Dragon Strikes This is an important book for the serious student of military and political history and for the veterans of the "Forgotten War" - and of other conflicts large and small, before and since. It is a sober, serious carefully organized and closely written work. That should not be read as dull or difficult. It is simply and elegantly composed in terms immediately accessible to any interested reader. I would suggest thatthe reader first scan the final chapter (16), "Looking Back", for a contextual summary of the author1s findings. After that, the Preface tells you who the author is and what motivates him. Itis brief, simple and overly modest. From this point on the chapters develop an account rangingfrom the historical relationships of Asians and Europeans over the last 150 years, to the political aftermath of WW2, the overheated ideological confrontations of "super powers", and the willful - if not entirely intentional, misunderstandings that led up to and resulted in the tragic mishandling of the (multiplex) strategies and tactics of the Korean War. Although it is told in simple language, this is not a simple tale. Roe does not seek or dispense blame. The book is a painstaking and rigorously objective attempt to make sense of the cascade of misconceptions, missteps and faulty decisions that were the pivotal crises of the Korean "Police Action" and the tragedy of that still unresolved war. If the reader discerns incompetence, rampant egotism, chauvinist arrogance or just plain stupidity, these are revealed by the actors themselves, in the context of their actions, and not by the conjecture or "interpretation" of the author. My personal bias should be made clear. Like Pat Roe I am a member of the Chosin Few. As he was a young 2nd Lt. in the 7th Marine Regiment, I was a young Sgt. in the 5th Marines.I came to know him personally a dozen years or so ago. I respect and admire his clear-headed intelligence, his uncompromising - if polite -honesty, his unquestionable personal integrity and his ability to look calmly and objectively at the facts and to organize and present them lucidly, without adjective or adverbial coloring. Roe is known throughout the membership of the Chosin Few for his remark at the first reunion of that fraternity in 1985. On the heels of much in the way of rhetoric and reminiscence and the emotional impact of encountering old comrades and mourning those lost, Roe summarized his viewpoint and his feelings. He wrote simply, "We did a good thing". Pat has done a good and valuable thing in this book. In the Preface he writes that the book is a product of six years of research and writing. This is his only misstatement in 450 pages. The book is the product of fifty years of attention and devotion to duty.

I consider this the best book I have read on the first six months of the Korean War. It accurately covers the conflict both before and after the entry of the Chinese. More importantly it gives excellent background on the Chinese, Korean, Soviet relations. It fairly identifies the deficiencies of the high command (Washington and Tokyo) and the problems faced by a badly depleted military force. It coordinates the actions of the Eighth Army and X Corps and identifies the lack there of. With only minor errors it accurately portrays the debacles of late November and early December, a feat rarely done. I know, I was at Koto-ri.

I consider this the best book I have read on the first six months of the Korean War. It accurately covers the conflict both before and after the entry of the Chinese. More importantly it gives excellent background on the Chinese, Korean, Soviet relations. It fairly identifies the deficiencies of the high command (Washington and Tokyo) and the problems faced by a badly depleted military force. It coordinates the actions of the Eighth Army and X Corps and identifies the lack there of. With only minor errors it accurately portrays the debacles of late November and early December, a feat rarely done. I know, I was at Koto-ri.

This is an excellent book of postcards of East Orange, New Jersey, many from the era 1900 through 1930. For those who grew up in or around East Orange years ago, this book is invaluable as a reminder of how great a place it was. There is also some text which gives coherence to the pictures. The only possible competition of which I am aware is a Centennial Book of East Orange from 1963 which has many photos (but not as many as the Postcard book) and a longer textual history of the City in its different aspects.

My mother lived in E. Orange during the 1906 to 1938 time period. She attended the Lincoln Elementary & E. O. High School along with my father whom she married later on. The postcards in this book give me a view that my mother would have seen as she grew up. This book gave me a warm and cozy feeling about a town I didnt know before. Many years later as I grew up in Caldwell, not far away, I had no idea of the rich history of E. O. Now I know thanks to this book. Note to Author: Don't ya just love Antique shops?

This well researched and visually appealing book is worth leisurely perusal. A picture is indeed worth a thousand words.

I can't remember when I've enjoyed a book so much! The postcards and narratives shown throughout the pages brought me back to the town I so loved and enjoyed as a child and teenager growing up in a city that I felt was the best place in the world.

While it lacks the depth of a Blue Guide, this book is a helpful tool for negotiating many of Egypts sites. We used it for our 8 day trip to Cairo, Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel, and it served us well as an addition to the Lonely Planet guidebook.

Not since the famous Baedeker guide of 1929 has someone written such a comprehensive and lucid book about Egypt. Michael Haag writes with reassuring authority -- clearly he knows and loves the country well -- and with an eye for revealing detail and with a narrative ability that makes this book as enjoyable to read and as unputdownable as a good novel. This is the book to take with you to Egypt, and to read before you go and after you have returned. You could have no better companion.

The only way to really know the value of a guide book is to use it, and that is what I most thoroughly did during my five weeks of travel through Egypt. A marvellous book! A comprehensive, assured and thoroughly readable historical and cultural account of five thousand years of civilization, as well as being entirely practical for the traveler in every respect, so that whether concerning accommodations or ways of moving about the country or where to eat or to shop, I came to trust Mr Haag entirely. A trip to Egypt is the journey of a lifetime and you owe it to yourself to have with you this incomparable companion.

Michael Haag's Egypt is a substantive compendium of practical travel advice noting more than 240 hand-picked places for the traveler to stay, as well as over 150 quality tested restaurants, bars and cafes. Enhanced with color maps of Egypt and the city center of Cairo, 47 additional maps and site plans, full coverage of the new, state-of-the-art library at Alexandria, and a completely revised chapter on Nubia (including full details of cruise itineraries on Lake Nasser), and with a thoroughly "reader friendly" and eloquent text, Egypt is the complete, comprehensive, dependable, portable, indispensable travel guide recommended to tourists, businessmen, students, and anyone else planning a trip to the fabled lands, cities, and monuments of Egypt.

A great book . Needeing to know anything about Eygpt well I think you just found your book .

Written in a more modern and light style, "Egypt Uncovered" is a good book although a bit of a coffee table piece with a rather light covering of many topics. Still, it manages to update some crucial information in the field with more recent discoveries in the past two decades.

The authours by and large avoid the trap that many modern Egyptologists fall into these days of down-sizing the scope of slavery in ancient Egypt or minimizing certain negative aspects of the ancient society.

Where the book REALLY stands out however, is in the spectacular photos of areas largely ignored by Egyptologists, or books on ancient Egypt, including much in ancient Sudan. The authours spend some time on this important but largely under-represented area of study on ancient Egypt. This, plus some excellent maps and illustrations, make it a very good reference source even for the already knowledgeable, as well as the merely curious. I recently had my copy damaged and I am buying another copy as I feel it is too invaluable in the above areas not to have available. Recommended!

jeff s. savage

A great book . Needeing to know anything about Eygpt well I think you just found your book .

This is a wonderful book . I gave copies to all my friends interested in Ancient Egypt. It's well written and beautifully illustrated. It gives you all the excitement of what is happening in archaeology in Egypt today without having to go there.

Having never traveled to the Middle East, my only awareness of the complexity of the region comes through media outlets (PBS and internet sources primarily), and an assortment of friends who regularly travel to or grew up in the region. The most engaging aspect of this collection of stories is that it consistently immerses the reader into the humanity of a culture that westerners only hear about through staccato news reports of violence and civil unrest. As with any situation, there are always more than two sides, and this collection brings to light the often-ignored humanity, generosity and history of this region with consistent and narrative beauty.

I picked up this book prior to a business trip to Morocco for some insights into the culture and people. I got that and more. It is a delightful collection of vignettes by travellers who continue to be surprised and enchanted by their experiences in the Middle East. It gave me the chance to see beyond the tourist sites to the real people. It also includes a wonderful bibliography, including films, which has encouraged me to delve deeper into the subject.

ENCOUNTERS WITH THE MIDDLE EAST: TRUE STORIES OF PEOPLE AND CULTURE THAT HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE REGION focuses on the encounters and stories of ordinary people, surveying interactions with 30 writers who go beyond a social report to consider how life is lived in the region. Their experiences bring to life the daily trials and promises of the Middle East and makes for a strong survey for any collection strong in contemporary Middle East culture and issues, from high school and college libraries to the general-interest lending collection.

In times of war, it is nice to see a collection that shows human beings instead of enemies. The book gives us a new parameter to re-visit some western perceptions.

Great for Classroom use!