Middle East Books - Page 6

God's Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215

David Levering Lewis

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Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"A furiously complex age; a powerful narrative."—New York Times Book Review, Editor's Choice

Hailed by critics as an essential book, God's Crucible is a bold, new interpretation of Islamic Spain and the birth of Europe from one of our greatest historians. David Levering Lewis's narrative, filled with accounts of some of the greatest battles in world history, reveals how cosmopolitan, Muslim al-Andalus flourished—a beacon of cooperation and tolerance—while proto-Europe floundered in opposition.

At the beginning of the eighth century, the Arabs brought a momentous revolution in power, religion, and culture to Dark Ages Europe. David Levering Lewis's masterful history begins with the fall of the Persian and Roman empires, followed by the rise of the prophet Muhammad and the creation of Muslim Spain. Five centuries of engagement between the Muslim imperium and an emerging Europe followed, from the Muslim conquest of Visigoth Hispania in 711 to Latin Christendom's declaration of unconditional warfare on the Caliphate in 1215. Lewis's narrative, filled with accounts of some of the greatest battles in world history, reveals how cosmopolitan, Muslim al-Andalus flourished—a beacon of cooperation and tolerance between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity—while proto-Europe, defining itself in opposition to Islam, made virtues out of hereditary aristocracy, religious intolerance, perpetual war, and slavery. A cautionary tale, God's Crucible provides a new interpretation of world-altering events whose influence remains as current as today's headlines. 8 pages of illustrations; 4 maps.

A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East

David Fromkin

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Total reviews: 126 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling account of how the modern Middle East came into being after World War I, and why it is in upheaval today

In our time the Middle East has proven a battleground of rival religions, ideologies, nationalisms, and dynasties. All of these conflicts, including the hostilities between Arabs and Israelis that have flared yet again, come down, in a sense, to the extent to which the Middle East will continue to live with its political inheritance: the arrangements, unities, and divisions imposed upon the region by the Allies after the First World War.

In A Peace to End All Peace, David Fromkin reveals how and why the Allies came to remake the geography and politics of the Middle East, drawing lines on an empty map that eventually became the new countries of Iraq, Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon. Focusing on the formative years of 1914 to 1922, when all-even an alliance between Arab nationalism and Zionism-seemed possible he raises questions about what might have been done differently, and answers questions about why things were done as they were. The current battle for a Palestinian homeland has its roots in these events of 85 years ago.

The Case Against Israel's Enemies: Exposing Jimmy Carter and Others Who Stand in the Way of Peace

Alan Dershowitz

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"As always when Israel needs to be defended...  Alan Dershowitz speaks with great passion and personal courage."
--Elie Wiesel

"This is a compelling book that unmasks the dangerous revisionism that distorts the real Israel. Dershowitz debunks former President Jimmy Carter's apartheid analogy, Walt and Mearsheimer's canard of dual loyalty, the immorality of the British boycott of Israeli academics, and the bigotry of the anti-Israel hard left and right. He also assesses the existential threats against Israel and the options available to the Jewish state. A must-read for all who care about international justice and Israel's survival in a world of biased enemies."
--The Honorable Irwin CotlerMember of Parliament and former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada; Professor of Law (on leave from McGill University)

Praise for Alan Dershowitz

"Dershowitz . . . knows how to construct an argument. . . . Especially effective at pointing to the hypocrisy of many of Israel's critics."
--New York Times Book Review

Hogs in the Shadows: Combat Stories from Marine Snipers in Iraq

Milo S. Afong

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Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"In the heat of battle, they have one mission-and they accomplish it one bullet at a time."

In Operation Iraqi Freedom, there is a special breed of marine for whom the prey is the enemy-and every day is hunting season. This marine is a HOG-a Hunter of Gunman.

These are the gripping, gut-wrenching true stories of those marines in Iraq whose sole purpose on the battlefield is to take out the enemy-one combatant at a time. Every time a HOG puts his eye to the glass, it means death for whoever is unlucky enough to end up in his crosshairs. No warning shots. No disabling wounds. No regrets. That's what a HOG does.

Here, former Scout/Sniper Team Leader Milo S. Afong reveals what it takes to be a Hunter of Gunmen. He describes the intensive training that turns expert infantrymen into one-shot life-takers, building Marine Scout/Sniper teams and how they operate in the field-and under fire-and how HOGs get the job done under any conditions.

From sniping from a rooftop in Baghdad, to unknowingly being surrounded in a palm grove in the city of Hit, these stories will transport you right into the heat of the desert war, where one squeeze of the trigger can make all the difference."

Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror

Robert Young Pelton

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Total reviews: 43 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Robert Young Pelton first became aware of the phenomenon of hired guns in the War on Terror when he met a covert team of contractors on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border in the fall of 2003. Pelton soon embarked on a globe-spanning odyssey to penetrate and understand this shadowy world, ultimately delivering stunning insights into the way private soldiers are used.

Enter a blood-soaked world of South African mercenaries and tribal fighters backed by ruthless financiers. Drop into Baghdad’s Green Zone, strap on body armor, and take a daily high-speed ride with a doomed crew of security contractors who dodge car bombs and snipers just to get their charges to the airport. Share a drink in a chic hotel bar with wealthy owners of private armies who debate the best way to stay alive in war zones.

Licensed to Kill spans four continents and three years, taking us inside the CIA’s dirty wars; the brutal contractor murders in Fallujah and the Alamo-like sieges in Najaf and Al Kut; the Deep South contractor training camps where ex–Special Operations soldiers and even small town cops learn the ropes; the contractor conventions where macho attendees swap bullet-punctuated tales and discuss upcoming gigs; and the grim Central African prison where contractors turned failed mercenaries pay a steep price.

The United States has encouraged the use of the private sector in all facets of the War on Terror, placing contractors outside the bounds of functional legal constraints. With the shocking clarity that can come only from firsthand observation, Licensed to Kill painstakingly deconstructs the most controversial events and introduces the pivotal players. Most disturbingly, it shows that there are indeed thousands of contractors—with hundreds more being produced every month—who’ve been given a license to kill, their services available to the highest bidder.


From the Hardcover edition.

The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood

Rashid Khalidi

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Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

A timely and compelling examination of the Palestinian dilemma, named one of the 100 best books of the year by Publishers Weekly

In Resurrecting Empire, Rashid Khalidi dissected the failures of colonial policy over the entire span of the modern history of the Middle East, predicted the meltdown in Iraq that we are now witnessing with increasing horror, and offered viable alternatives for achieving peace in the region. His newest book, The Iron Cage, hones in on Palestinian politics and history. Once again Khalidi draws on a wealth of experience and scholarship to elucidate the current conflict, using history to provide a clear-eyed view of the situation today.

The story of the Palestinian search to establish a state begins in the era of British control over Palestine and stretches between the two world wars, when colonial control of the region became increasingly unpopular and power began to shift toward the United States. In this crucial period, and in the years immediately following World War II, Palestinian leaders were unable to achieve the long-cherished goal of establishing an independent state—a critical failure that throws a bright light on the efforts of the Palestinians to create a state in the many decades since 1948. By frankly discussing the reasons behind this failure, Khalidi offers a much-needed perspective for anyone concerned about peace in the Middle East.

"Rashid Khalidi is a historian's historian. The Iron Cage is his most accomplished effort to date . . . Magisterial in scope, meticulous in its attention to detail, and decidedly dispassionate in its analysis, The Iron Cage is destined to be a benchmark of its genre."
—Joel Schalit, Tikkun

"At heart a historical essay, an effort to decide why the Palestinians . . . have failed to achieve an independent state." —Steven Erlanger, New York Times

"Khalidi, tackling 'historical amnesia,' brilliantly analyses the structural handicap which hobbled the Palestinians throughout 30 years of British rule . . . Khalidi restores the Palestinians to something more than victims, acknowledging that for all their disadvantages, they have played their role and can (and must) still do so to determine their own fate." —Ian Black, Guardian

"Khalidi uses history to provide a clear-eyed view of the region and assess the prospects for peace. He strives successfully for even-handedness."
—Anthony Lewis, author of Gideon's Trumpet and Make No Law

". . . we have to open a dialogue with Hamas—not to embrace it, but to lay out a gradual pathway that will bring it into relations with Israel. As Rashid Khalidi, Columbia University's Palestinian expert and author of The Iron Cage points out: 'If we let the Palestinian Authority be destroyed, and then we keep Hamas isolated'—even though it won a democratic election that we sponsored—'we will end up with the hard boys, the gangs you see today on the streets of Gaza, who respond to no authority at all.'"
—New York Times, Thomas L. Friedman

A History of the Jews

Paul Johnson

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Total reviews: 72 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A History of the Jews 4 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

Paul Johnson's `History of the Jews' is a well written, entertaining, and informative 4000-year history of the Jewish people. Coming in at just under 600 pages, it is exhaustive, and thus an exhausting read. Johnson makes no secret of his deep admiration for the Jews-he is a Christian who feels religiously in debt to them-and thus the entire book is written from a highly philo-Semitic perspective. The book is arranged chronologically into the following seven sections:

Part One: Israelites
Part Two: Judaism
Part Three: Cathedocracy
Part Four: Ghetto
Part Five: Emancipation
Part Six: Holocaust
Part Seven: Zion

In the Prologue, Johnson writes; "At a very early stage in their collective existence they believed they had detected a divine scheme for the human race, of which their own society was to be a pilot. They worked out their role in immense detail. They clung to it with heroic persistence in the face of savage suffering. Many of them believe it still. Others transmuted it into Promethean endeavors to raise our condition by purely human means."

Now this seems to be an accurate appraisal of the essence of Judaism, and a worldview with which Johnson agrees. He clearly believes that the Jews are God's gift to mankind and they, the enlightened ones, are here to lead the gentiles along the path to righteousness. He believes the Jews hold a "special genius" that the rest of us apparently don't. He cites their numerous contributions throughout the ages, starting with the concept of ethical monotheism, and continuing on with an "endless continuum of patient study, fruitful industry" and an untiring commitment to bettering the human condition. Of course there is some truth to the Jew's consistent intellectual proficiency, but it should be obvious that this grandiose, self-appointed scheme is inherently antagonistic and thus anti-Semitism is an inevitable result.

Although Johnson tends to downplay it at times, the book documents how Jewish actions and attitudes have played a major part in anti-Semitism since ancient times. He describes how even the ancient Greeks and Egyptians had their share of anti-Semitism due to the aloofness and subversion of this peculiar people. Of course there are and always has been irrational extremists who take anti-Semitism to a different level, but as they say, there is (at least) a grain of truth in all stereotypes, and anti-Semitism is no different. I found Johnson's handling of the anti-Semitism topic to be somewhat puzzling though. On several occasions, he comes out and describes exactly how Jewish actions led to anti-Semitism, and then turns around and writes the anti-Semites off as irrational bigots. That being said, he does document some of the more irrational incarnations of anti-Semitism, most notably the superstitious variety of Christian medieval Europe. It seems to me that throughout the ages, anti-Semitism has been a turbulent mishmash of the rational and irrational, part natural reaction to Jewish behaviors, and part memetic superstition that is passed on from one generation to the next.

As he goes through the different time periods, Johnson creates mini biographies of some of the most prominent Jews throughout history. Abraham, Moses, Maimonides, Spinoza, Disraeli, Marx, and Rothschild-among others-are all covered. I found his take on Marx to be especially interesting. Johnson claims that Marx's anti-Semitism was the foundation of communism. Indeed, Marx was virulently anti-Semitic-a self-hating Jew if you will-and Johnson argues that it was Marx's association of Jews with bourgeois capitalism that led him to his desire to crush capitalistic society. Then in his typical paradoxical style, he admits that Marx was a typical Jew in the sense that he was rabbinical, messianic, and apocalyptic. Indeed, he admits that there is something inherent in the Jewish character that lends itself toward radical movements such as communism.

The remaining sections were generally very good, although he does engage in a fair amount of speculation, and at times comes across as very anti-Gentile. Especially when it comes to the Germans and the Holocaust, where his analysis seems to be along the line of Goldhagen, i.e. "The German people knew about and acquiesced in the genocide." Though when it comes to his people, the Brits, Johnson can't seem to refrain from telling the reader what a good friend to the Jews they have always been. I actually found this more amusing than anything, but I digress.

My criticisms aside, I did find this to be a very scholarly and enjoyable work. Although I took off a star for Johnson's tendentiousness, I can't deny that he is a great scholar and talented writer. This is a thorough and engrossing history of the Jewish people from ancient times until the present, and I would whole-heartedly recommend it to Jew or Gentile alike.

Editorial Review:

A national bestseller, this brilliant 4000 year survey covers not only Jewish history but he impact of Jewish genius and imagination on the world. By the author of Modern Times: The World From the Twenties to the Eighties.

Saddam's Secrets

Georges Hormuz Sada

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 94 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

eye opening 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Finally, the inside scoop! Questions of WMD answered! Why isn't this information made more readily available to the American People? This is a story of one man's faith and honesty in the worst of situations! You want to know the truth? Read this book!!

sudam's secrets 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I enjoyed the information in the book. Poorly written but never the less informative

Here's the other side of the story 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is an important book that every American should read. Gen Sada is an amazing man, an eye-witness in Saddam's regime who lived to tell about it and claims to have actually seen WMD with his own eyes. Fascinating!

Excellent Read 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

It's a shame that the public has to dig for the truth rather than rely on the press to be honest, but that's the situation. If you really want to know what was going on rather than buy into the juvenile theory that this was somehow all about W's oil buddies, this is a great start.

saddam's secrets 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Have only read a small amount so far, but already would rate it very good and something all americans should read.

Editorial Review:

General Sada paints a picture of Hussein, his regime-and his country-that is at once personal and truthful, compelling and sobering.

The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia (Kodansha Globe)

Peter Hopkirk

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Total reviews: 88 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Definitely history come alive... 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I won't repeat too much of the praise already heaped upon this book, other than to say it is well deserved. Hopkirk has a very engaging writing style that makes it very difficult to put the book down.

Just a few notes:

- Hopkirk does a good job of staying on topic in a book that encompasses many regions and personalities. Often this means he has choosen to not take certain stories to their conclusion or lay all the groundwork for certain narratives. It can leave you wanting more in some cases, but the alternative would be a two thousand page book.

- A reviewer complained about the maps, but I must say I was most impressed with them. Almost every place he mentions is marked on the maps. Obviously if you want a larger context to the area you may need to visit an atlas or google maps, but after that the maps in the book follow the text quite closely.

- The book is certainly from the British perspective because at the time of writing that was where most of the source material came from and the author is British as well. That said, I don't think this was one sided as the author is clearly critical of the British motives in many circumstances and has outlined the conflicting Russian motives reasonably well.

In any case, a top notch book you won't regret reading.

Editorial Review:

The Great Game was the epic stand-off between the two superpowers of the nineteenth century--Victorian Britain and Czarist Russia--for the riches of India and the East. Based on meticulous scholarship and on-the-spot research, Peter Hopkirk's immensely readable account covers the history at the core of today's geopolitics. Photos and maps.

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine

Ilan Pappe

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Total reviews: 79 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Zionist ethnic cleansing creates "racially pure" Israel 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 13 people found this review helpful.

Ilan Pappe used Israeli records and interviews with victims of Zionist ethnic cleansing to document how terror, murder, and rape were used by Jews, in Palesting, from the end of World War II through 1949 to expell Palestinians from Palestine and create a larger and larger Isreal. The book is a good corrective, for the mis-representations of the event sequences and non-reporting of events, by US print and electronic press coompanies, of what happened.

Editorial Review:

In this controversial new book, a prominent Israeli historian at Haifa University revisits the formative period of the State of Israel. Decisively debunking the myth that the Palestinian population left of their own accord during the War of Independence, he offers archival evidence to demonstrate that a central plank in Israel's founding ideology was the forcible removal of the indigenous population. This book is a passionate plea to acknowledge the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 as the root cause of the ongoing Palestine-Israel conflict.