Middle East Books - Page 4

The Innocents Abroad (Signet Classics)

Mark Twain

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Take a Tour of Europe and the Holy Land with Mark Twain the inimitable Missouri traveler 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Mark Twain is the Lincoln of our literature. Sam Clemens (1835-1910) wrote Huckleberry Finn in 1885 which has been acclaimed as our greatest American novel. Lesser known are his wonderful travelogues: "Roughing It' "Following the Equator"; "Life on the Mississippi and "The Innocents Abroad" published in 1869. This book is worth reading even 140 years after its publication. Twain style is a joy to read for he was a born storyteller and communicates his thoughts well on the page.
Twain was a reporter who joined the six month expedition to Europe and the Middle East on board the steamer "Quaker City." The pleasure tour had
been organized by the famous pastor Henry Ward Beecher (sibling of Harriet Ward Beecher) and Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman. Neither of these notable made the trip citing other obligations.
Twain roomed with a young man from Elmira New York. He would later visit Elmira and meet his friend's sister Olivia. She would become his wife and the mother of the couple's three daughters.
The Innocents Abroad is a long book of 400,000 words covering over 500 densely written pages. Twain takes a sardonic, humorous view of European art as he guides us through the Louvre, Florence Italy and Rome. We visit London, Paris and meet with Czar Alexander II in the Crimea. Twain had a keen reporter's eye and a humorist's ability to paint word pictures of his fellow passengers,tour guides and natives of the fascinating cities and countries he visited on a busy itinerary.
As a Presbyterian pastor I found the most interesting part of the book dealt with Twain's tour of Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece and Israel. He was upset by the filth, disease and cruelty he saw in the land of Moses and Jesus Christ. Despite all his asides and digressions the observant reader can gain a good picture of what these places were like in 1869. Twain was an agnostic but knew his Bible.
Mark Twain was our greatest author. In this fine book you will get to know this fascinating man better as he shares his globe trotting journey with his readers.

Editorial Review:

One of the most famous travel books ever written by an American, here is an irreverent and incisive commentary on the "New Barbarians'" encounter with the Old World. Twain's hilarious satire impales with sharp wit both the chauvinist and the cosmopolitan.

Insight Guides Turkey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Cross cultural lifeline. 5 out of 5 stars.
33 of 33 people found this review helpful.

Insight guides offer a rich history, political analysis and cultural insight to the countries they cover. By using locally based writers they get the insiders view of what the various camps believe in. For a discerning traveller who wants to know about the country, the people, geography, food, industry etc and for those who wish to travel independently, this is the book to read. It is not tourist guide which says stay here, eat this menu, see this statue. All that is left to the standard tourist guide writers. If you never travel to a country, you can know it through the insight guide. Because Muslim and Turkish cultures are so different from ours (and Turkish is different to Arabic Muslim) it is important to be aware of the behaviours that are considered polite and those that are considered to be rude. This book equips you to deal courteously with salesmen who would be considered pushy by western standards. Did you know for instance that it is rude to kiss your partner in the street in Turkey (or any muslim country) even if it is only a peck on the cheek -whereas it is polite for men to kiss each other in public. Why were Turks feared by all of Europe for seven hundred years? Why do the Greeks still hate them with such passion (if you want to insult a Greek just call him a Turk and see the reaction). For depth of analysis on culture, history and geography, to understand what makes the people tick, you should read this book. Then if you travel to Turkey you may, like me, find the Turks to be the friendliest people you have ever met. You may also understand why such friendly people are capable of being represented in quite a different way in Movies like Midnight Express. Vive la difference!

Editorial Review:

Fully revised and updated, this book includes a section detailing Turkey's history, 5 features covering aspects of the country's life and culture, ranging from the amazingly varied cuisine to the stupendous Bosphorus skyline, a region by region visitor's guide to the sights, and a comprehensive Travel Tips section packed with essential contact addresses and numbers. This title also includes hundreds of full-colour photographs and 21 maps.

Lonely Planet Syria & Lebanon (Lonely Planet Syria and Lebanon) (Multi Country Guide)

Lara Dunston; Terry Carter

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Lonely Planet Syria and Lebanon Review 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book is excellent it gives very good tips for travelling in these countries. In fact I always buy Lonely Planet travel guides because it's a guarantee that it will be a good book

Your best bet!! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I was so excited to travel through the Middle East as it's not something that happens regularly in the region if you're American. I was wowed by the overall accuracy of the book and while I wasn't taking pictures or shooting video, I was reading my LP guide :).

Aside from a few wrong numbers and a little exaggeration on how "friendly" people are, it was a gold mine of information. The info on Lebanon was great and useful. I only wish I could spend more time there instead of 3 days. For the most part, it really helped in Syria and I stand by the hotel and restaurant recommendations.

Outstanding new edition! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The new July 2008 edition has just reached me. It's a great advance over previous editions (see other reviews on this site). Many text-boxes and references to more specialist guides have been added. Everything has been updated and substandard accommodation deleted. It's very compact, light and easy-to-use - except for the street maps. These seem more difficult to read than ever! Extra plans showing the layout of ruins and of some museums are great. However, the prices given for flights and accommodation are already well out-of-date. Judging by the introductory sections, the guide was completed in about February 2008. Lonely Planet needs to speed-up its printing schedule, although I'm sure the Chinese printers were not to blame for any delay. This is an excellent,compact guide to wonderful countries of great antiquity whose friendly inhabitants are so warm to visitors, putting to shame Western notions of hospitality. While not nearly as comprehensive as the outstanding 1991 Footprint Syria & Lebanon Handbook, it is a quarter of the weight and a very handy introduction to people planning to visit. I won't go without it!

Editorial Review:

Lonely Planet has covered Syria continuously for 20 years. New Food & Drink chapter by Middle Eastern cuisine experts.

Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian Life

Sari Nusseibeh

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Once Upon a Peace Maker! 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 10 people found this review helpful.

This is a truly important book for anyone wishing to understand fully the Arab / Palestinian - Israeli conflict. It sheds tremendous light on very important events, thus far not fully presented from the Palestinian side, especially that of the non rejectionist Palestinian camp. Sari Nusseibeh is a truly visionary man with tremendous courage and is a highly gifted activist and indeed very clever politician despite his own denials.

I have thoroughly enjoyed, and was often moved by, the first half of the book which dealt with the history of Nusseibeh's family and contained his even handed description of the events leading to 1948 and all the way through the 1967 war and his subsequent return to live in Palestine with his British wife. Nusseibeh's portrayal of the lives of the Palestinians between the wars of 1948 and 1967 was very helpful.

In the second half of the book Nusseibeh hammers in, over and over again, on the tacit unspoken alliance of the extremists on both sides and shows how Israel supported the creation of Hamas as a counter weight to the Fateh and PLO. He coherently and very persuasively presents the thought process that he went through to move from the one state solution to the two state solution and demonstrates very effectively the threats that prolonging the conflict would cause to it.

Nusseibeh was often right at the center of things or at least presents himself as such; we see him as a leading figure in standing up to the Israelis and to the Islamists, we see him as the key engine behind the first intefada, or uprising, and we see him winning the respect and approval of Yasir Arafat. In this, second, half, this book moves from being a truly exceptional account of the personal and family history more into an aggrandizing politician's memoir. This should not reduce nor detract from the tremendous personal sacrifice and commitment Nusseibeh made to his cause.

I have heard of the peace work of Dr. Nusseibeh and read some of his articles and interview for some years and while I admire him more than any other Palestinian public figure, this book troubled me in a number of ways. Unlike the other three Palestinian memoirs, originally written in English, that I have read (Gada Karami, Fay Kenfani & Edward Said) Nusseibeh sought to justify every action he has ever taken, to defend his various historic positions and to settle the scores with those of differing views. Most unlike the other three biographies, the book contained virtually no retrospective sole searching whatsoever and important topics such as his obvious passion and skill for politics vs. his academic eccentric persona were packaged for the purpose rather than thought through. Nusseibeh repeatedly simply presented himself as the reluctant professor, yet left us wondering about his very savvy organizational, political and survival skills. He seemed to know exactly how to deal with wily old Arafat, Hamas, the Israeli intelligence and the various factions of the PLO yet retain the freedom to advance his own agenda as well as build important relationships with Israelis.

The tremendous heights, in which, Nusseibeh holds his father, a former Governor of Jerusalem, ambassador and member of cabinet gives the feeling of an immature biography lacking in the distance to be objective. Indeed the first half of the book contains rework of the some of the father's own unpublished memoirs. Obvious points such as the father's commitment to an idealistic form of pan Arabism, albeit non Bathist and non Nasserist, and Nusseibeh own movement into being Palestinian nationalist, seeing Palestine being in natural alliance with Israel did not cause him to reflect further on the role and thinking of his father. A respectful critique and contrast of the views would have enhanced and not hindered the understanding of his father and need not be disloyal to his memory.

Most grating perhaps is the competitiveness displayed with other Palestinian peace advocates and the various attempts at discrediting them. This was particularly evident in describing the efforts that led to the Geneva Accord, which Nusseibeh referred as the plan by the name of the Israeli negotiator, thus marginalizing the Palestinian partner. At some point Nusseibeh clearly fell out with Hanan Ashrawi and Dr. Barghouti, both articulate advocates of the Palestinian cause and for peace and coexistence with Israel, he made his disdain of them very obvious and has not troubled himself to analyze their positions even in retrospect.

Editorial Review:

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice

A teacher, a scholar, a philosopher, and an eyewitness to history, Sari Nusseibeh is one of our most urgent and articulate authorities on the conflict in the Middle East. From his time teaching side by side with Israelis at the Hebrew University through his appointment by Yasir Arafat to administer the Arab Jerusalem, he has held fast to the principles of freedom and equality for all, and his story dramatizes the consequences of war, partition, and terrorism as few other books have done. This autobiography brings rare depth and compassion to the story of his country.

Egyptian Arabic Phrasebook

Siona Jenkins

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Lonely Planet Egyptian Arabic 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is a very well thought out and nicely organized book. Any student of Egyptian Arabic will like this phrasebook, and the illustrations inside of the book offer casual entertainment while the reader continues to learn Egyptian Arabic. I admit that I was disappointed to read that the author started to include sexual words and phrases, then backed out of doing it. It really would have been a lot of fun to learn how to say some of those things that were deleted from the final text.

Editorial Review:

Whether traversing the Nile or exploring Cairo's labyrinthine alley-ways, delve beneath the surface and discover the intriguing language and culture of Egypt. Confidently converse in Egyptian Arabic and ensure you don't miss out on the friendliness and humor for which Egyptians are famous. Enhance your travels throug this enticing country!

Our phrasebooks give you a comprehensive mix of practical and social words and phrases in more than 120 languages. Chat with the locals and discover their culture - a guaranteed way to enrich your travel experience.

From the Holy Mountain: A Journey among the Christians of the Middle East

William Dalrymple

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 66 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Inspirational 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 11 people found this review helpful.

As a seminary student, I had been exposed to many of the groups Dalrymple visited during his journey. Though we treated them largely as doctrinal heretics and schismatics, they were lifeless groups and sects in the pages of our medieval church history text books. "From the Holy Mountain" brought those people to life in ways that I had not experienced before.

In addition to the narratives that draw you in, the author's keen eye for details and his ability to weave multiple threads together make you *feel* this book rather than read it. I came away feeling almost as if I had made the journey myself, and what more can we ask for from a book like this?

Editorial Review:

In 587 a.d., two monks set off on an extraordinary journey that would take them in an arc across the entire Byzantine world, from the shores of the Bosphorus to the sand dunes of Egypt. On the way John Moschos and his pupil Sophronius the Sophist stayed in caves, monasteries, and remote hermitages, collecting the wisdom of the stylites and the desert fathers before their fragile world finally shattered under the great eruption of Islam. More than a thousand years later, using Moschos's writings as his guide, William Dalrymple sets off to retrace their footsteps and composes "an evensong for a dying civilization" --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Jordan (Country Guide)

Bradley Mayhew

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Ancient cities, desert landscapes and the most intriguing sea in the world: Lonely Planet’s Jordan covers them all. But venture beyond Petra, Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea for activities coverage you won’t find in any other guidebook. Hiking, scrambling, rock climbing, camel trekking, 4WD excursions – there’s more adventure here than Lawrence of Arabia had time for.

Petra In Depth – highlights, hiking routes and how to get off the beaten path

Ecotourism Options – extensive coverage of the flagship Dana Nature Reserve, plus hints on how to spend your money to make a difference

Relax like Cleopatra and Herod the Great, who knew a great Dead Sea spa treatment when they saw it.

Sleep Under The Stars and experience legendary Bedouin hospitality, or opt for roofed comfort: every accommodation review packed with opinion

Get Organized – tips on border crossings, Internet access, digital photography and transport routes

Middle East Patterns: Places, Peoples, and Politics

Colbert C. Held

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Geography is destiny in the Middle East 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful.

Dr. Held's vast experience working as a Middle East geographer for the U.S. State Department pays off in a comprehensive synthesis showing the importance of natural resources and human culture. He begins with an overview of Middle Eastern geography: climate, water resources, topography, petroleum, and human settlement. He then treats each country in a chapter that synthesizes geography, culture and politics. Chapters are well written and illustrated. The book is suffused with the author's fascination with the variety of human cultures in the Middle East.

Editorial Review:

Middle East Patterns continues to be the only comprehensive regional study of the area written by a US geographer since 1960. This revised and updated third edition retains the basic framework of its predecessors, examining the Middle East from a topical and then a regional, country-by-country perspective. A thoughtful consideration of the physical environment lays the groundwork for emphasis on cultural-political and geopolitical patterns, which are the essence of the study. The book includes up-to-date thematic and regional maps, tables, and photographs.

Motoring with Mohammed: Journeys to Yemen and the Red Sea

Eric Hansen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In 1978 Eric Hansen found himself shipwrecked on a desert island in the Red Sea. When goat smugglers offered him safe passage to Yemen, he buried seven years' worth of travel journals deep in the sand and took his place alongside the animals on a leaky boat bound for a country that he'd never planned to visit.

As he tells of the turbulent seas that stranded him on the island and of his efforts to retrieve his buried journals when he returned to Yemen ten years later, Hansen enthralls us with a portrait -- uncannily sympathetic and wildly offbeat -- of this forgotten corner of the Middle East. With a host of extraordinary characters from his guide, Mohammed, ever on the lookout for one more sheep to squeeze into the back seat of his car, to madcap expatriates and Eritrean gun runners- and with landscapes that include cities of dreamlike architectural splendor, endless sand dunes, and terrifying mountain passes, Hansen reveals the indelible allure of a land steeped in custom, conflicts old and new, and uncommon beauty.

Where Jesus Walked: A Spiritual Journey Through the Holy Land

R. Wayne Stacy

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Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Reference -> New Testament -> Study

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Baptists Today 5 out of 5 stars.
20 of 20 people found this review helpful.

In this unique volume, the author - who leads annual tours of the Holy Land - uses geography to provide important insights for understanding the meaning of Scripture, particularly the messages of Christ.

Complete with outstanding photography, Where Jesus Walked is an ideal devotional guide for travelers and non-travelers. It is also a valuable tool for use in group study or as a reference source for teachers.

- Baptists Today, September 2001

amazing book everyone should own a copy 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

its those kinds of books when you read them, you just cant get enough of it.
it's written so well with such an intense emotional wisdom into it.
every one who's slighetly interested in christianity or in religion as a broad subject should own a copy. at least one, if not more...

great great book. enjoyed every second of reading it.
lihi.

Where Jesus Walked 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Wonderful companion to an actual visit to the Holy Land. Good format which starts with the historical and geographical information, followed by the appropriate scripture passage telling the biblical significance, and followed by a short story type meditation. I used this book throughout my visit to the sites named in the book.