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Summary: One of the easiest and most interesting books I have read
Review: To find some sort of explanation for the recent terrorist attacks on the US, I started with this book hoping for some sort of history of the middle east and an understanding of what makes north american society so different from that in the middle east. The book has been a great introduction. It is perfect for a broad understanding of the type of conflict that has existed in the region. Most interesting, and at times horrific, are the clear explanations of the lengths to which the people of the region, or specifically its leaders, are willing to go to to shelter their beliefs and their way of life. It is eye openning and most importantly, extremely easy to read. Anyone starting this book who hasn't had any previous interest in middle eastern history will find a surprise when they see how difficult it is to put down.
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Summary: Great intoduction to Middle Eastern politics
Review: Thomas Friedman won two Pulitzer Prizes for his journalism from Lebanon and Israel (he writes for the New York Times). His book covers the politics of the Lebanese civil war and the struggles between Israel and the Palestinians. He covers the perspectives of many groups very thoroughly, and this is his book's strong point.Its weak point may be his confident perscriptions, his confidence in his analysis of the ways of the world. Or it may be that many things have happened since 1995, when last he updated it. The book barely approaches the politics of other Middle Eastern nations such as Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Iraq or Turkey; Friedman focuses on the areas of his expertise. Therefore it's only an introduction to the region's history and politics, but a really good one.
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Summary: Been there, read it, done that
Review: It was two months from the start of the Persian gulf War and 100 miles from the Iraqi border when I finished reading this book in a dimly lit room at an Istanbul hotel. The muezzin called for prayer five times a day in his tone deaf voice as each page turned, each event unfolded, each night turned to day for this mesmerized reader. A few days earlier, my dad, my sister, and I hopped on a military flight from Sicily to Turkey for a few days of Christmas vacation. I was a college student on holiday to see my parents overseas. We travel on holidays and Isreal proved to be too conflicted before the buildup for war. We hopped on a MAC flight to Turkey instead, laden with supplies to our bases there. As armed troops accompanied our plane taxying the runway on base, I read the harrowing event of Mr. Friedman, eyeing the end of a rifle. The armed guard asked slowly, solemnly, "Who shot JR?" What a great book. As we struggled to leave the Mid East, I really didn't want to. In-shah-Allah. God willing.
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Summary: Still reading it, but intrigued
Review: I am about half way through this book, published in 1989. It is a little out of date, so I will need to read Friedman's supplement that updates the book through 1995. It is fascinating. I've never really understood Middle East politics and now am gaining a better understanding of the difficulties and complexities of both sides. I also especially like the fact that Friedman has written a book on this subject that is relatively easy to read--not filled with a lot of intellectual philosophizing.
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Summary: a comment from the other side
Review: I find myself in the difficult position of being an Israeli Palestinian Arab. This is only one of the many combinations I could apply to define my complex identity, for I was originally born and raised in Denmark. The Middle East becomes an addictive ride, as Mr. Friedman probably would agree to, which cannot be experienced objectively. Friedman begins his journey in the late seventies amid the Lebanese civil war. He guides us through the early eighties and Sharon's invasion, up until the Shi'ite militia's recovery of Beirut. We leave Beirut and follow him to Jerusalem and witness his profile of the Palestinian struggle. Friedman is an extremely strong writer who has captured many aspects of the Palestinian in his writings. His observations are first and foremost cultural, the political variant is background and occasionally foregrounded. Yet, he never allows us to penetrate the appearances of the Palestinian identity, nor do we go beyond the superficial descriptions of the Sunni, Druze or the Shi'ite sects. Friedman is obviously interested in the more westernized congregations such as the Christian Maronite militias, and in specific their leader Bashir Gemayel. Friedman is also deeply involved in Israeli politics and military tactics. The book is very well written, but I could not supress the feeling that his observations of the Palstinians, Sunni, Druze and Shi'ite were only for the purpose of his own primary and privileged presence as a Jewish American reporter, and a supporter of Zionism. His friendships with Hijazi and Mohammed do not camouflage the conscious subjectivity that lies in the narrative.
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Summary: Complexities explained
Review: I did not know much about the Mid East conflict till I picked up this book. Ignorantly, I assumed that the crux of the matter was the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which had arisen after the mass migration of Jews to Jerusalem after WWII and the founding of a modern Jewish state in 1948. Of course this is an important contribution to the problems in the Mid East, but Friedman's book brought out the other players in the conflict and how the underlying (though not all that subtle sometimes) manipulation of the other nations in the region were crucial in aggravating an already troublesome political and religious situation. I was hooked to the book from page one and the introduction and historical background Friedman gives to the Mid East and the continual unresolved conflict provides ignoramuses like myself a good foundation from which to better comprehend Mid Eastern politics and culture. I wouldn't say I am an expert on Mid East now, but Friedman's book has definitely given me some basic knowledge and I can now look more closely and explore deeper into subjects which interest me in the Mid East. Informative, and engaging, Friedman's book is required reading for anyone interested in the complexities of the Middle East.
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Summary: Entertaining, but not comprehensive
Review: One of the few books about Middle Eastern politics that is a "real page turner." In the first section, Friedman expertly draws the reader into everyday life for the middle class in Lebanon, the major and minor adaptions to a world gone mad. The second section, on Israel, is somewhat less riveting, perhaps because it is well-trod territory. Don't look for a comprehensive account of the ongoing Middle East crisis here; this is a way to fill in the blanks, to locate the lived experience behind the political posturing. My only hesitation is that Friedman comes across as a bit too self-important to make his journey thoroughly accessible.
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Summary: you'll feel like a scholar of modern mid-east history
Review: You will feel like a scholar of contemporary Middle East history when you are finished. However, it is very easy and fast reading. I just returned from a two year assignment in the Sinai. This book answered almost all of my questions about regional conflicts. It also provided a great deal of insight into the attitudes and behavior of Israelis and Arabs.
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Summary: Seminal and never truly Dated
Review: Friedman's book is an essential primer, should be the first book read on middle east. It can be seen as dated but it isn't because the ongoing violence has roots and many books published earlier on Israel or Jerusalem are important for understanding the current mess. After Friedman I suggest reading also: Adina Hoffman, Wendy Orange, Amira Hass, Glen Frankel, Mordechai Richtler, Benny Morris, and more writers than I can list without boring you. My main point: Start here but don't end here.
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Summary: The Best but not the Only Book to Read Now
Review: Like so many the world over, I love this book and recommend it highly. It is however far from the Only book to read. Following Friedman are other books I find, if not as panoramic and if not as in-genius, important and wonderful. In no particular order, but all less well known, they concern the same turf but either from a slightly different angle or from a later date: Danny Rubinstein's "The People of Nowhere", Amira Hass' "Drinking the Sea at Gaza" and Wendy Orange's "Coming Home to Jerusalem." With these four books read altogether one begins to see with real clarity. Connect the dots.
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