The Middle East [Paperback]

Overall, this books provides a good background into the middle east that can any many people's questions about the region.

However, I can only give it three stars because, although it's subtitled "A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years," it was a bit too brief for my literary palate. I anxiously devoured the work eager to learn about Suleyman the Magnificent and Ataturk; instead I learned that the eggplant comes from the Middle East and a peach, at one time, was known as a Persian apple.

And that's my biggest gripe with the book. Lewis titles it as an overview of the region giving prospective readers the idea it will cover famous Middle East leaders, its countries and their origins, and the timeless religious conflicts. Instead, the book takes a Howard Zinn approach to the region and covers in great detail the inhabitants and their religion, culture, economy, social castes, judicial systems, agriculture, etc. Over one-third of the book entitled "Cross-Sections" is on this subject matter, And although informative, it is impertinent to the political history of the Muslim world, which the title of the book implies it is about.
The only historical figure garnering a significant amount of ink in the book is, for obvious reasons, Muhammad. Lewis' basic explanation of the Muslim religion in his section "The Dawn and Noon of Islam," is an engrossing look into one of the major religions of the world and would be quite helpful to someone who is new to the subject matter. Lewis has a number of other books solely devoted to the subject matter but gives a good overview in this work.
With the large sections on culture and religion, there is little room left in the book on the political history itself. Lewis gives brief synopsis' on Iran's early history and the reign of the Ottoman Empire but little else. The 20th century info is contained in just 40 pages at the end of the last chapter.
Lewis does deserve extra credit for two helpful tools in the back with the reader-friendly chronology and informative maps.

In conclusion, ask yourself what most interests you as the reader about the Middle East? If one is interested in the culture and everyday life, this book is a great start. If one wants the political history about the rulers and military leaders, I'd look elsewhere.

After an engaging preview in the introduction, the first 132 pages of "The Middle East" is a recap of history, from Nile to Oxus and from AD 1 to 1700 where he highlights precedents for current characteristics. The Caliphate's expansion was aided by peoples people "long subject to the Persian and Byzantine Empires [who] exchanged one imperial domination for another and found their new masters less demanding, more tolerant, and above all more welcoming than the old." The middle third of the book is a collection of cross-sectional essays on the state; the economy; elites; the commonality; religion and law; and culture. Agriculture & stock raising were economically in different hands, hence the persistence of nomads. Poets were PR people for rulers, even composing 'jingles.' Compared to the West, there was a lack of doctrinal differences or strife, an absence of persecution of heretics or unbelievers. "Muslims... [created] a religious civilization beyond the limits of a single race or religion or culture. The Islamic world in the High Middle Ages was international, multi-racial, polyethnic. one might even say intercontinental." In the 15th and 16th centuries, refugees voted with their feet from West to East. "[E]ven at the beginning of the 19th century a poor man of humble origin had a better chance of attaining to wealth, power and dignity in the Ottoman Empire than in any of the states of Christian Europe, including post-Revolutionary France." The section on religion and law is especially illuminating in its comparison of political law as a supplement to the Shari'a and in its explanation of how custom, regulations, and interpretations were used to disguise new laws.

The final part of the book summarizes Middle Eastern history from 1683 to 1994. The author's analysis of the Ottoman state is the best I've ever seen, from the organizational roots of success, through the seeds of relaxed complacence at the height of its success to its collapse, which he compares and contrasts to the Soviet collapse. The alienation of landholdings, then governorships, is well covered, as is deindustrialization. I'll have to get his book on the Ottomans. Lewis' discussion of patriotism and nationalism is thought-provoking, as is one on the impact of liberty, equality and fraternity. The last chapter reveals the only significant weakness of the book: Lewis fails to distinguish Modernity from The West. He uses the terms modern and West interchangeably, not appreciating a point that Huntington, for one, makes theoretically in "Clash of Civilizations," and that Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan make in practice. The author also understates the client-patron nature of the Egyptian, Israeli, Lebanese, Jordanian, Iraqi (formerly), and Saudi regimes, among others.

Though there are a couple of spell-check typos (attached instead of attacked, founts instead of fonts), there are many delights in Lewis' command of language, and not just English. The depth of his knowledge shines through everywhere. It may aggravate some, but I especially delighted in his use of 'fora' as plural of the noun 'forum.' His word choices are true, and his phrasings in places approach the elegance and wry wit of Will and Ariel Durant. For instance, "even the pettiest of modern dictators has greater control than even the mightiest of Arab caliphs Persian shahs, and Turkish sultans. The traditional restraints on tyranny have gone. The search for some new or renewed form of limitation continues." The neologismic nature of country names are explored. He even has a couple of satirical excerpts that had me tearing up with laughter. And I had to go to the dictionary to look up 'calque' (a copy). All in all, I found this an informative easily read book that left me wanting more. It's time to add to my wish list.