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Product Description
Review
"A masterful, thorough, and well-written survey of the entire sweep of modern Arab history. Full of lively vignettes but comprehensive at the same time, this book will be of great interest both to general readers and students of the Arab world.”
Juan Cole, Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History, University of Michigan and author of Engaging the Muslim World
“No better guide to the modern history of the Arab world could be found than Eugene Rogan. He is attentive as much to the insider accounts in Arab memoirs as to the imperial schemes hatched in drawing rooms in Paris and London, as concerned with popular movements and uprisings as with elite reformism, and unafraid to confront directly and with the best evidence and documentation available the vexed issues of colonialism, Orientalism, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Rogan achieves a rare, and realistic synoptic vision of the way in which Arabness has been shaped by both indigenous forces and Western imperial ones. In recent years, the United States has attempted to rule Arabs while carefully avoiding knowing anything about them, a strategy that has yielded all too predictable results. Those in the West who aspire to engage the Arab world in more productive ways in the future will find Rogan an indispensable companion.”
Avi Shlaim, author of The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World
“Eugene Rogan writes about the Middle East with exceptional empathy, wisdom, and insight. His book is a landmark in scholarship on this complex and controversial region. Western scholars have written extensively about the Middle East but mostly from the outside looking in. The Arabs often feature in their accounts as mere driftwood on the sea of international affairs. Rogan, by contrast, has narrated the history of the region over the last five centuries from the inside looking out. He tells the history of the Arabs from their own perspective, using an impressive range of Arabic sources. It is a fascinating story and in Eugene Rogan it has found its most gifted chronicler.”
Sir Alistair Horne, author of A Savage War of Peace
“Anyone who seeks to understand why the Islamic world bears a grudge against the West should read The Arabs. Few scholars know their subject better than Eugene Rogan, while even fewer are capable of rendering so complex a subject so engagingly readable. It is a joy to open, and a deprivation to put down.”
Margaret MacMillan, author of Paris 1919 and Nixon and Mao
“With eloquence, verve, and understanding, Eugene Rogan rightly reminds us that the world, and the Arabs themselves, need to remember the past. If we are to build a better relationship between the Arab world and the West, if we are to avoid making the same mistakes again and again, we need to know Arab history from its many high points to its low ones. I can think of no better guide on this crucially important journey than The Arabs.”
Kirkus
“A straightforward, careful primer on Arab political history from the rise of the Ottoman Empire to the forging of modern fundamentalist Islamic entities…. A sweeping history.”
Booklist
“Framing modern history as viewed from the Arab world, Rogan eruditely furnishes Western readers with a background to current events.”
The Atlantic
“[Rogan] provides a prism through which the lay Westerner can view five centuries of tumult, zealotry, and complication…. Deeply erudite and distinctly humane, Rogan consistently plays up (and never papers over) the bountiful East-West parallels."
Stephen M. Walt, ForeignPolicy.com
“[A]n entertaining, gracefully written, and eye-opening look at a diverse people whose history, culture and character are often badly misunderstood (if not actively distorted) here in the United States. Read it. You’ll learn a lot.”
Simon Sebag Montefiore, for the Financial Times
“A rich, galloping narrative that spans the Arab world from Morocco to Yemen to Iraq… Rogan’s The Arabs: A History is an outstanding, gripping and exuberant narrative, full of flamboyant character sketches, witty asides and magisterial scholarship, that explains much of what we need to know about the world today.”
The Sunday Telegraph (UK)
“Very much a modern history… Rogan gives a lucid account of political developments throughout the Arab lands, unpicking messy tangles such as the Lebanese civil war or the fragmentation of Palestinian political movements.”
The Guardian (UK)
“The vivid narrative of The Arabs is… eloquent, and compulsively readable.”
The Economist
“[A] fascinating [story], and exceedingly well told…. What makes [Rogan’s] book particularly useful is the way it situates [the Arab-Israeli conflict] within the wider context of the Arabs’ long, and still unsuccessful, struggle to come to more equal terms with the West. Europeans in particular, and also Americans, need their memories jogged about just how arrogant, duplicitous and frequently stupid their governments have been in dealing with the Middle East…. [An] exemplary history.”
The Scotsman (UK)
“An incredibly ambitious book… wonderfully inclusive and articulate and knowledgeable, pretty much indispensable.”
The Times (UK)
“[The Arabs], which starts with the Ottoman Turks’ conquest of the Arab world in 1516-17, offers a strikingly vivid and authoritative account of its subsequent experience… [Rogan’s] rehearsal of recent Middle East history is impeccable.”
The Spectator
“Rogan’s brilliant book is clear-eyed and balanced. Mixing academic rigour with a lively narrative style, The Arabs: A History is required reading for anyone seeking to understand the background to the mess that the Arabs find themselves in.”
The Scotsman (UK)
"An incredibly ambitious book… wonderfully inclusive and articulate and knowledgeable, pretty much indispensable.”
The Times (UK)
“[The Arabs], which starts with the Ottoman Turks’ conquest of the Arab world in 1516-17, offers a strikingly vivid and authoritative account of its subsequent experience… [Rogan’s] rehearsal of recent Middle East history is impeccable.”
Dallas Morning News
“Rogan manages the somewhat staggering feat of outlining nearly 500 years of history in a way that is neither cursory nor overwhelming – and is based in the experiences of the people themselves…. [Rogan’s] ability to gather and synthesize such a wealth of information, showing both the humanity and malice present on all sides, while neither bowing to nor accepting conventional wisdom, is truly remarkable. It’s to be hoped that America’s decision makers get their hands on a copy of The Arabs – and take very good notes.”
Foreign Affairs
“Readable and reliable, this sweeping survey balances the unity of a coherent story with due attention to detail. As such, Rogan’s contribution belongs in the company of the earlier classics by Hitti and Hourani.”
The Times Literary Supplement
“[An] excellent book…. Eugene Rogan has written an authoritative and wide-ranging history.”
Middle East Policy Journal
“[A] perceptive narrative of the past 500 years of Arab history…. This is a book for the general reader with little or no detailed knowledge of the Arab world. The writing is fluid and avoids academic theorizing and jargon…. However, even specialists should find this book a valuable guide to major events across the Arab world from Iraq to Morocco over an extensive period of time.”
Product Description
Updated with a new postscript on the revolutions of 2011, The Arabs is an invaluable, groundbreaking work of history.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A scholarly work,
By James S. Cormack (Vancouver Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Arabs: A History (Hardcover)
The Arabs: A History, by Eugene Rogan is a scholarly, detailed and oustanding (but eminently readable) review of Arab history from the time of the founding of the Caliphate and the Ottoman Empire in the early 1500s. The detail is never tedious and Rogan's prose moves very rapidly. The endnotes are appropriate.As for more recent history, President G. W. Bush and his administration are roundly criticised where appropriate, but Rogan leaves history itself later to judge the corollaries of 9/11. The book is sympathetic to the Arab past and outlines directly and indirectly paths to a better future. This is the sort of book that should be required reading for US State Department senior people, and with any luck President Obama might have time to read it. It is more scholarly than The Arabs: A Comprehensive History by Peter Mansfield, but doesn't cover quite as much ground, starting as it does in the summer of 1516.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A strong historical work with solid, fair analysis,
By
This review is from: The Arabs: A History (Hardcover)
This is a history of the Arabs - a history starting in the 1500s when the Ottoman Empire defeated the Mamluks of Egypt. From that point forward, Arabs have always been dealing with ultimate power sources that lie outside their borders - first the Ottomans, then Europeans, USA/USSR and now USA alone. There is a lot of potentially controversial material here, but Rogan handles it deftly for the most part. There are a few quibbles along the way perhaps, but nothing worth mentioning here. The book is also solidly readable and about as accesible as you could reasonably expect.Nothing much changes in Arabia, and despite Rogan's desire to be positive toward the end, there doesn't appear to be much change on the horizon, Arab Spring (not in the book) notwithstanding.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.9 out of 5 stars (29 customer reviews) 106 of 115 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Superb Introduction to the Middle East,
By David N. Buckley "David N. Buckley" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Arabs: A History (Hardcover)
If what you seek is a clear, succinct, yet detailed account of how "the Middle East" --including the Maghrib-- became what it is today, look no further. This is by far the best available account of the modern history of "the Arabs" and their worlds. (And, it IS necessary to stress the plural, "worlds." Language and religious convictions may be common threads among Arabs; but much else is diverse in ways that most of us have yet to fully appreciate).Rogan writes in clear, accessible prose, and provides a coherent and engaging narrative. Teachers especially will find this volume helpful; but, the general reader too will find the main lines of Arab development (since 1516) covered in ways that both inform and illuminate. Despite the welter of books available on this subject area, none has the mastery of substance and the simple felicity of style necessary to meet the needs of today's deeply misinformed general audience. After Rogan, there is no longer any reason for us "westerners" to remain ignorant of the Arab past, and the Arabs' world. (Mainstream "News" commentators, please take note). If you want to know how it all began and why it has remained the single most barbaric "encounter" in "western" history, look no further. This is where all future students will begin their exploration of Arab history, and is the work to which they will most often turn in seeking to understand its main currents and conflicting personalities. Its perceptive analysis and insights no less than its narrative flow will provide food for thought for all who wish to learn. --- OVERVIEW OF THE CONTENTS: Despite its title, this book is less a history of "the Arabs" per se than of external attempts to govern them. For the Arabs themselves, we have Hourani's masterful work A History of the Arab Peoples: Second Edition -- and it comes as no surprise that Rogan's work drinks from the same deep well of scholarship and insight (see page 499-500 for details). However, if Hourani gave us a view of the Arab world from the inside, as it were, this is the same story ... but from the outside. Rogan's prespective is that the modern history of the Arabs is, essentially, the story of external attempts to dominate and govern them. So, starting with the Ottoman victory over the Egyptian Mamluks in 1516, his first five chapters --about one third of the book-- deal with the main trends of Ottoman overlordship, down to the debacle of World War One. The next four chapters (six through nine) deal in considerable detail with the disastrous consequences of Anglo-French imperial self-aggrandizement from 1915 to 1945. (American readers may be pleasantly surprised to learn how positive was the Arab view of American international involvement in 1919. Then they were a positive counterweight to European rapacity. Now, of course, they've changed colors, and are the proverbial fox-in-the-henhouse). Chapter Nine on "The Palestine Disaster and its Consequences," is a masterpiece of concision and erudition, and on its own will more than repay the reader's investment in this book. The outsiders view of Israel (which is the one most of us have) will seem decidedly less rosy and congenial once seen in the real context of broader Arab concerns and indigenous contemporary developments. Chapters 10 and 11 deal with the "Rise" and "Decline" (respectively) of Arab nationalism between 1950 and 1970, using Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser as the yardstick of Cold War "superpower" involvement in Arab affairs. Chapters 12 through 14 bring the story from the "oil shock" of 1973 down to the present day, and show how remarkably short --and ghastly, in human terms-- has been the "western" journey from European arrogance to American hegemony. That all parties to the deepening conflict have been remarkably uninformed and self-centered may come as no surprise, but the true cost of such ignorance should horrify the reader. To cover so much ground in less than 500 pages is an achievement in itself. To do so with such clarity and elan is nothing short of genius. (Keep in mind that almost half the book is given over to events since WWI). I sincerely hope Mr Rogan will consider making this into a video history so it can reach a wider audience. (If nothing else, such a project would teach us how to pronounce unfamiliar names ... and perhaps even make them household words!) 18 of 21 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Middle East History plus!,
By Jo R. Gilbert "Traveler" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Arabs: A History (Hardcover)
First, I met the author at an Oxford conference last year and was impressed by his knowledge of Arabs and the Middle East. Also his sense of humor. So when I saw his book listed, I promptly bought it. I'm still in the midst of reading it. But it is everything I expected. A readable history of the Arabs and the Muslim influences. Certainly, more up to date than Anthony Nutting's work of forty years ago and a companion to Mark Allen's Arabs. Starting in pre-Islamic days, through the Ottomans, the French and the Brits, and now into today's political scene, he thoroughly covers the Arab efforts to achieve self esteem. Well written; well researched. Highly recommended.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb historical overview,
By Bookends - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Arabs a History (Hardcover)
An excellent overview of the history of the Arab people and the events that manifested itself in the current situation in the Middle East. The stark truth may offend some people as can be seen in the orchestrated campaign of reviews to discredit the author. If you are seeking an objective overview of history of the Arab people, you will find it in this book.
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