# Please recommend good books on Middle Eastern History **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-on-middle-eastern-history/261016 "2004-08-22T22:10:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lilacs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Lilacs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lilacs)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-on-middle-eastern-history/261016/1 "2004-08-22T22:10:51Z")
My roommate is looking for a good concise history of the middle east which isn’t a really dry read. Does anyone have a suggestion? We stopped at a bookstore the other day but nothing seemed to cover what she was looking for. To be honest I think she’s interested in both modern and ancient times, if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-on-middle-eastern-history/261016/2 "2004-08-23T03:10:16Z")
Five good books I’d recommend: _The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Year_ by Bernard Lewis _The Shaping of the Modern Middle East_ by Bernard Lewis _A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East_ by David Fromkin _Empires of the Sand: The Struggle for Mastery in the Middle East, 1789-1923_ by Efraim Karsh and Inari Karsh _The Crusades Through Arab Eyes_ by Amin Maalouf ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-on-middle-eastern-history/261016/3 "2004-08-23T03:17:32Z")
I second the book by Bernard Lewis. We used it as a text for a clas I took recently, and it was very detailed and helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Lilacs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Lilacs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lilacs)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-on-middle-eastern-history/261016/4 "2004-08-23T04:07:06Z")
Thanks to both of you, **Little Nemo** and **silenus**. I’ve read a little historical fiction but never anything factual. I figure when she’s done, I’ll borrow them. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-on-middle-eastern-history/261016/5 "2004-08-23T14:12:54Z")
You may want to check out this prior thread, though I can’t vouch for the dryness of the texts thereon: > **[Reading List: Islam and the Islamic World](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=198523)** > > Eh, okay. Since someone ( who we’ll call EV ) has begun poking with a stick over promises unfulfilled and since someone else who made said promise ( who we’ll call…hmmm… Cranky-C ) has fobbed the job off on me, I guess I’ll take a stab at starting... (I know, sorry **Tamerlane,** I haven’t gotten through the list yet! I promise to be a better reader in the future.) ---
**Author:** ![li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/li_l_Dickie_Dirtz)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-on-middle-eastern-history/261016/6 "2004-08-23T14:43:31Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I second the book by Bernard Lewis. We used it as a text for a clas I took recently, and it was very detailed and helpful. Bernard Lewis has taken some flak lately for what is being called his out-dated, “Orientalist” view of the Middle East. I unfortunately cannot back up this memory with any concrete cites. I believe an issue or two of Harper’s in the last year or so is responsible for this memory, but Harper’s website sucks so I can’t find anything substantial. Make of that what you will. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-on-middle-eastern-history/261016/7 "2004-08-23T15:31:35Z")
Well, the class was taught by a very “traditional” teacher, so I am not surprised that he chose an “out-dated” book. He was very down on what he considered “PC” thinking. Not that there is anything wrong with that! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lilacs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Lilacs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lilacs)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-good-books-on-middle-eastern-history/261016/8 "2004-08-23T23:37:39Z")
> [@li'l Dickie Dirtz](#): > > Bernard Lewis has taken some flak lately for what is being called his out-dated, “Orientalist” view of the Middle East. I unfortunately cannot back up this memory with any concrete cites. I believe an issue or two of Harper’s in the last year or so is responsible for this memory, but Harper’s website sucks so I can’t find anything substantial. Make of that what you will. Of course, as long as it’s factual without being condescending towards the subject, a little bias is probably to be expected one way or the other. But it’s always good to read more than one source. I appreciate everyone’s input. So does my roommate.