# Please recommend a book on Middle East history **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 3, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-book-on-middle-east-history/729774 "2015-09-03T02:47:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-book-on-middle-east-history/729774/1 "2015-09-03T02:47:14Z")
What is the best book that explains the history of the Middle East and how we got to where we are today? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-book-on-middle-east-history/729774/2 "2015-09-03T02:58:55Z")
Hourani,\* A History of the Arab Peoples\* is a bit dense and broader than just Israel v. Everyone Else, but was highly regarded when it came out. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-book-on-middle-east-history/729774/3 "2015-09-03T03:16:09Z")
you might try asking here: [http://historum.com/search.php?searchid=4035298](http://historum.com/search.php?searchid=4035298) ---
**Author:** ![keeper0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@keeper0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeper0)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-book-on-middle-east-history/729774/4 "2015-09-03T03:59:10Z")
Thanks to the Amateur Barbarian. I couldn’t remember the name of that book, but I really learned a lot from it. I also recommend “A Peace to End All Peace” by Fromkin, which focuses on WW I and the aftermath. “A History of God” by Karen Armstrong isn’t a political history, but it a good supplement to the others to get a grip on the sectarian diversity in the area. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-book-on-middle-east-history/729774/5 "2015-09-03T03:59:33Z")
“The Crisis Of Islam” by Bernard Lewis packs a lot of history and contemporary information into a very short book. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-book-on-middle-east-history/729774/6 "2015-09-03T04:53:30Z")
> [@keeper0](#): > > Thanks to the Amateur Barbarian. I couldn’t remember the name of that book, but I really learned a lot from it. > > I also recommend “A Peace to End All Peace” by Fromkin, which focuses on WW I and the aftermath. > > “A History of God” by Karen Armstrong isn’t a political history, but it a good supplement to the others to get a grip on the sectarian diversity in the area. Someone else recommended the Fromkin, and I bought and read it. Very educational and enlightening, especially given how we’re making some of the exact same mistakes today! I’ll track down and read the Armstrong. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-book-on-middle-east-history/729774/7 "2015-09-03T11:33:19Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Hourani,\* A History of the Arab Peoples\* is a bit dense and broader than just Israel v. Everyone Else, but was highly regarded when it came out. I read it this summer and it’s really good, indeed. However, it doesn’t deal with the history of the Arab Peoples before the Revelation. More importantly, it focuses a lot on recent history, from the 18th century onwards, and goes through the various medieval Caliphates (Ummayad, Abbasid, Fatimid, etc.) too quickly. I’d have prefered it the other way round. That’s often this way in books that cover long stretches of time: recent events are over-represented. But given what you’re looking for, that may not be a problem.