Rating: 
Summary: Great book!
Review: This as a book about history is to the Middle East what Hopkirk's 'The Great Game' is for south and central Asia. It's a close second to 'The Great Game' in my ratings, and explains a lot, a LOT, about Middle East politics. It should be read by every policy wonk in Washington.
Rating: 
Summary: What a book!!!
Review: This is an amazing book on the conflict in the Middle East. The book is broken into three segments, of which only two are gripping. The Jerusalem section of the book was okay. Nothing fancy unless you are interested in the internal political problems of Israel. Well overall great book!! Look for the Hama Rule!! That is the best part of the book.
Rating:
Summary: for once, a bias in the other direction
Review: As a Middle Easterner, I can confidently say that this book is an excellent and thought-provoking account of a time and place usually dismissed as inscrutable or treated with facile generalizations. Friedman tells the truth. While he may display a bias to the Arab side, I cannot begin to enumerate the countless books which display a much more significant Zionist bias and escape uncriticized...this book is refreshing, entertaining, and brutally honest. read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Should only pay for the "Beirut" part of this book.
Review: Colorful and emphatic account of Lebanese civil war and Israel's involvement. Poetic, humanist, absorbing, and historically correct. Unfortunately Mr. Friedman's analysis is rather disconcerting in parts of the book describing Israel. It's not the belated in its originality, revisionist views on Holocaust and suspiciously vigilant and negative attitude to most of the things Israeli. It's that the author forgets there are casualties on both sides of the trenches.
Rating:
Summary: The best book I have ever seen on the Arab-Israeli conflict
Review: I lived in Israel for 7 years, from 1971-78. Went to an Israeli high school, and served in the army. I studied Israeli history (through the eyes of the Israel public school system), and have lived among both secular and religious Israelis. I think I can safely say that I had a healthy amount of exposure to both liberal and conservative viewpoints on the Iaraeli-Palestinian conflict. I consider Thomas Friedmans' book an island of sanity in the sea of literature on this subject. I saw no evidence of pro-Arab or anti-Israel bias, he's simply telling it like it is.
Rating:
Summary: The book to read on the Middle East
Review: Thomas Friedman has written a book on one of the world's most difficult and complicated subjects, and he has suceeded admirably. Reading his book greatly enriched my 2 month journey to that region of the world this summer, and since doing more reading on the subject, I keep finding myself in more and more agreement with Mr. Friedman.While no one is truly unbiased when it comes to Middle Eastern politics, I do not agree with the criticisms that he is anti-Israel. He may seem so to those brainwashed by the pro-Israel American press, but I believe he did his absolute best to "tell it like it is", rather than to advance any personal agenda.
Rating: 
Summary: Unfortunately the book fails to be objective
Review: While Mr. Friedman is certainly a very prolific writer, his biased attitude towards the Israeli/Arab conflict clouds his critical thinking. Mr. Friedman assigns Israel a majority of the blame for the Israeli/Palestinian delimna. After three hundred pages of this, (with the exception of a paragraph here or there), I was convinced I had been browbeaten. Let us not forget that Israel is a small nation whose historical right to its homeland was recognized by international consensus. And now, she finds her legitimacy of that committment eroded and scorned by that same community which initially supported her. Why has the only democracy in the entire middle East been the focus of so much criticism? Friedman's book is very informative, and is historically accurate. But, so much of the writing leans to the left, to the anti-Israel, anti-zionism sentiment. I recommend for balanced reading of Israel, the reader look at Benjamin Netanyahu's book A Place Among the Nations. While many persons might not agree with his politics, the book is an insightful piece of literature that explores history, political theory, and Palestinian Centrality.
Rating:
Summary: Great reality book
Review: The best book I have ever read about the Middle East confilict... I read the book when it first came out the read it again (the new version) nine years later... during these nine years I have traveled in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, UAE, Israel and Lebanon.. all I can say is that the book sheds light on the most ambiguos aspects of life in the M.E. The only problem is that the book is very realistic and reality hurts... I belong to one of the minorities of the Middle East... Thank you Mr. Friedman
Rating:
Summary: A biased account
Review: This book presents a rather one sided account of events regarding Israel and Lebanon. As it has become trendy of late to be "anti-Zionist", this book is well received by those who oppose Israel. The reader should keep in mind that there is another side to this issue.
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST introduction to the middle east
Review: As one of the first books I read about Middle East, and its
conflicts, I RECOMMEND this book STRONGLY for everyone: those that
are new to the region, needing an introduction to the Middle East,
as well as those who want to refresh their knowledge of the region
and the various forms of conflict so common there. The Middle East can be a confusing place but Friedman sorts it out
for you. FRIEDMAN IS SUCH A TERRIFIC WRITER he made me feel
confident in my new found knowledge, relieved to have his insight
as my foundation, and so wanting to learn more about the entire
region. I read "From Beirut to Jerusalem" for the first time just before
the first Gulf War; now it is my touchstone, reading parts, or
all of it, again when things over there get crazier. While Friedman focuses on Lebanon and Israel in this book, he
really is providing you with an understanding of the whole
framework of the Middle East and its conflicts: between countries,
within countries, amongst religions, between peoples of different
ethnic, cultural or racial backgrounds. Warring religious conflicts within Lebanon may remind you of the
religious tensions between the Sunnis of northern Iraq and the
Shi'ia of south. Syria's late Assad's massive killing of his own
people will immediately remind you of the murder by Saddam Huessin
of the Kurds in northern Iraq. Even if Israel didn't exist, many of these conflicts would have
happened anyway...and will continue to happen. Now the fastest growing portion of the Arab and Muslim populations
are the school-aged and young adults. Most have limited
educations and little in the way of meaningful employment to look
forward to. Is it therefore any surprise some of them are so very
frustrated, dissatisfied and unhappy they would become militant
or terrorists. Although Israel has done some good things for the peoples of the
West Bank, it is unfortunately outweighed by the bad its done there and in Gaza. And with Israel's peoples being so different than most of the
Middle East and carrying Mohammed's Qu'ran stories of the Jews'
friendship and then perceived betrayal of Mohammed over 700 years
ago, one can see why attacking Israel is a whole lot easier for
these terrorists than challenging the regimes they live under for
better opportunities. I wish all Americans, at least, would read this book so they
would be better versed in what happens in the rest of the world.
This is a GREAT BOOK.
| 
