The Middle East: 2000 Years of History from the Rise of Christianity to the Present Day (Phoenix Giants S.) Paperback – 17 Jan. 1997

Comprehensive and relatively short history book. The author's deep understanding of the ME has made this book to highlight key points from different perspectives: social, political and economical. Cross-sections are particularly interesting.

No complaints. The book in its paper back edition is as it was expected. I would recommend this to any one who is interested

Bought this as part of the 5 for my coursework. I found this very useful and the writing makes it an easy read that's also interesting!

This is a well researched and inciteful work. It puts the current issues in the middle east into perspective. How the past has shaped the conflict there.

Good condition

Incredible book full of facts, I found the Islamic conquests part (a lot of the first half) a bit of a slog, but I think that’s due to my interest being in the early modern period onwards in the Middle East. I couldn’t put the book down during the second half! I’d definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for a general history of the Middle East.The one issue is that there’s some very questionable claims about a lack of forced conversions, women’s rights and how technologically advanced compared to Europe the Middle East was. It feels like a classic case of one of my countrymen going native and falling totally in love with a foreign culture much like some of the great explorers of our past, so I can forgive him for that, you can easily overlook such things in this book, great author!Heavily recommend, timeless work!

ok

Bernard Louis' book on the Middle East is a concise book that clearly and elegantly presents and explains the most major and most influential events that took place throughout its history. It's a very good introduction on the historic facts of this geographical area not only from a military point of view but also from the economic, social and religious aspects as well.However, this book is plagued by dubious claims by the author such as Arabs not forcing conversions, women enjoying more rights than in the West, the dhimmis enjoying their life under their Muslim conquerors, the upward mobility of dhimmis, the welcoming of Jews and others (ignoring massacres and blight of both dhimmis and Jews).What's truly peculiar is that after each claim is made, a few pages along the book, the author recounts the horrid events and experiences women and minorities went through during Muslim rule but for some unknown reason often he does not connect the dots nor does he realize that it contradicts his previous claims. Even more unfortunate is that when he does occasionally recognize the contradiction he doubles down on opinion statements based on misinterpretation of facts rather than admitting to his fault. This happens throughout the book in certain paragraphs however it does not destroy the overall utility of the book itself.Even more hilariously, the author took on the optimistic approach over the Middle East by which it will slowly Westernize even more. Considering the recent historic developments one can only chuckle at how wrong he was.In short, it's a useful and concise book but be careful of its misleading opinions.