Middle East Books

Now in an fully updated and expanded second edition, A Young Person's History Of Israel by David Bamberger is an ideal introduction for young readers as to why the state of Israel came about as well as why it, among all other nations, is so very special. This superbly written and organized history begins with describing the land the people of the old Palestine that existed for hundreds of years under Muslim rule. The next section is devoted to describing the origins of early Zionism that were to lay the groundwork for the return of the Jews to the land of Israel. The third section recounts the turbulent creation of an independent state of Israel. Section four is dedicated to the fight to build a viable state amidst hostile nations. The fifth and final section is devoted to describing the democratic state of Israel as it exists today. Profusely illustrated with black-and-white historical photos throughout, A Young Person's History Of Israel is a welcome and highly recommended addition to any personal, family, school, or community library collection.

First written in 1985 and republished in 1994, this book describes in genuine historical terms the history of Israel, well enough so that youngsters can grasp it, and better (as others have noted) than many history books for grown-ups.

Twenty chapters and 172 pages include not only the pre-Israel history of the land, but even its prehistoric formation in geological time. There is the obligatory explanation (brief) of biblical history as well as that of all subsequent conquests, including the 7th century Muslim conquest of the land.

As the book explains, lands can die, and under its successive conquerors, Israel died: the plants and animals perished, and the land became a barren one, of desert and swamp. The Jewish people, however, rebuilt and reseeded the land, and made it bloom.

Despite all that, the Jewish people face an unrelenting propaganda war, which this book helps to counter.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

This little book for young people provides a much better history of Israel than quite a few misleading books for adults.

Although it is a short book, it has room for some excellent pictures and maps. After a brief history of ancient Israel, it pinpoints the start of modern Zionism with the assassination of the Russian Czar Alexander II in 1881. The bulk of the book traces the history of Zionism from then until the founding of the state of Israel in 1948 and its victory in its War of Independence. The book concludes with a short description of Modern Israel and its more recent history.

To the book's credit, it explains that Israel now faces a propaganda war from the Arabs, including oft-repeated Big Lies to the effect that Zionism is a form of racism and that Israel has deprived Arabs of their rights. Future authors of histories of Israel ought to read this book and try to at least do as well!

Mr. Wagner has a wonderful ministry and a wonderful way with words. He's an excellent teacher, and it shows in this easy-reading book about the Holy Land. It's broken down in such a way that you can read a fact a day or a chapter a day and enjoy it either way. He gives an excellent exposition of God's promises concerning the Land, and interesting facts about the uniqueness of Israel.

Even after traveling to the Holy Land late last year, reading through this book was very helpful and insighful in providing interesting facts about the wonderful land of the Bible. It covers information on a broad range of topics, both current and historical. I would consider this book to be an excellent starting point or refresher course for anyone who cares about the land that our Creator God Himself deeded to Abraham and his descendents. Enjoy!

I have been grieved as many Americans by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. I have never understood before why the people are fighting and just who the players really were. While I may not be sure that I agree with all the conclusions, I have never been given such a clear picture of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael. I also never really understoon the concept of Paradise and how it related to Christianity until now. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a textbook complete understanding of our problems in the Middle East.

Johannes Miller
St Louis, Missouri

I have always wondered just what Islamic people believed. This book has the history of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael from the Bible and also the Koran. These brothers were having problems over 3000 years ago and it is no wonder there are still problems between the Islamic people and Jewish people today. Very easy to read, I loved the larger print with extra spaces and I would recommend this book to everyone.

Excellent book. Gives a good overview Sijistani's neo-platonic contstruct and his rational approach to solving the paradox of tawhid.

Al Sijistani was a leading visionary during the Ismaili Fatimid period. This period was marked by a strong scientific spirit, a rational approach to the universe and a markedly humanistic view of mankind's key place in it. Al Sijistani was among the group of thinkers who coopted both rationalism and the philosophical sciences and answered that religious revelation reflected not merely a separate realm, but the whole of knowledge. Hence reason or the intellect was accepted as a valid source of Islamic understanding. Al Sijistani in fact argues that intellect can never be overconsumed, but thrives on being spent. Learning in a variety of ways improves the soul, giving it strength by adding to its share of intellect.
In reviewing this book,clearly the most interesting aspect of al Sijistani's thought is his combination of Neoplatonic ideas and Ismaili doctrine. This book is in contrast with others on the Ismaili movement that tend to focus on the mystical (batin) aspects of the faith. I have read this book several times and really enjoyed reading it because of its rational approach to the Ismaili faith. I was quite surprised by the sound,readily defensible, theoretical foundation that he was able to build for central and critical issues of Ismaili doctrine.

I bought several courses. The cards offer basic concepts in small bites. The information was relevant to what was presented by my teacher. The cards and CD's gave good review before exams and a head start at the start of the new school year. The cards had a lot of questions; you can carry them in your pocket and learn a few each day. The software was easy to use. It is like the cards but on the screen. You can take a test or just review. Front is question, click for answer on back of card. The software can also show the cards on the screen at random, first the question, then the answer. They change every few seconds. That keeps you reading and wondering what's coming up next. It's entertaining while you're studying.

Every year I recommend them to my students. The ones who buy them seem to do a little better than they might have. The cards are numbered, so it's easy to tell them which ones they need to know, and which they can set aside based on the curriculum. It's harder to accomplish that type of culling of information with a review book you'd buy at the superstore.

I agree with the previous review that this book was similar to the Magic Treehouse series, but I think this book was even better than those. My six year old daughter and I loved this book. We planned on splitting it up over two nights of reading, but got so involved in the story that we read the whole book in one sitting! Super imformative and the story was woven well into the Ancient Egypt facts!! We read this as part of a homeschool lesson, but any kid who is interested in Ancient Egypt would be thrilled with this story!

I got this book along with several others for my first grader. We homeschool and are studying Ancient Egypt. We loved this book! This was by far my son's favorite. It is easy to find "photos and facts" types of book on Egypt, but this one adds a bit of fiction and adventure to the mix. It is kind of like the Magic Tree House books, but in a picture book format. The book is an adventure story with factual information listed at the bottom of each page (I guess sort of like Magic School Bus type books too). I will definitely be checking out the others in this series.

This is an excellent review of the many wars suffered by Afghanistan and the reasons these wars occurred. An excellent review for someone spending time in Afghanistan or sudying the country or region.

This is a tour de force; a comprehensive, lucid, and insightful account that makes a tangle of events over 20 years almost understandable. Scrupulously documented, full of sage judgments, cogently written, and eminently well organized, it is one of the best books on contemporary history I have read. Highly recommended along with Fundamentalism Reborn, an exceptional compilation of articles about Taliban Afghanistan.

reuters is a great source for worldwide media coverage. this book contains fabulous photos taken of afghanistan as well as small reports from a variety of reporters between the groups of photos. nothing is better than being able to see what is being mentioned or what you have heard or read about afghanistan so far. large and gripping images of all kinds of people, and differnt areas of land, the book is a great compilation of images and words to give you a nice idea of what things are like in afghanistan.

"Afghanistan: Lifting the Veil" is well-titled, as it helps educate what and why the people, the Taliban, bin Laden, al Qaeda could be what they are in Afghanistan.

Reuters is one of the best positions possible to see what is going on. As the top int'l news agency, they know the lay of the land, and the issues surrounding things.

It is not overly academic, and is accessible by the intelligent reader. It brings more to the table than simple American anger, or sadness for the loss of the WTC. Instead, Reuters shows the whole of the matter, demonstrating the grays and well as the black and whites of the circumstance.

I fully recommend "Afghanistan: Lifting the Veil" by Reuters.

Anthony Trendl

We lived in the country for 14 years back in the 50s and 60s and love to remember the people and places there.
The photographer has captured the mystery, beauty and character of both. We own a copy and have bought
it for our children to also enjoy as they remember our life and travels in Afghanistan. Although much has
changed poliltically, much remains the same. We discovered that on a recent visit. So this beautiful book
still has a message for the world.

The photographs say it all! After acknowledging the poverty that does exist they lay open the richness of spirit of people who have withstood the test of time and found their way. They have not been born-again. They were here at the beginning. What entrepreneural way of life could offer them anything, anything but the gift of being left alone. Look into their eyes.

This is not a detailed biography with ins and outs of Ahmadi-nejad's entire personal life story up to now, if you want to read a biography of Ahmadi-nejad you may have to wait until something like that is written some time in the future. However, if you want to be updated with a factual account of what is going on in Iran now and who runs the Islamic Republic, reading this book is a must!

It is one of the best explanations I have read in English on what Islamic Republic elections are about ....
http://azarmehr.blogspot.com/2008/09/ahmadinejad-by-kasra-naji.html

This work was a great introduction into the known life of Iran's Ahmadinejad. This was my first book on the subject and once I finished the reading I felt that I knew that much more about Iran's leader that is under much scrutiny from other world powers. If anyone wants to gain insight into present day Iran and Ahmadinejad, this book is a must. The book was well written and presented clearly. You'll not only learn about Ahmadinejad, but also of those that helped shape his political ideas. The title is relatively cheap compared to some of the other books available on the subject and is a very interesting read.