Rating: 
Summary: Goldschmidt is the man!
Review: Penn State Rules! The history department does too
Rating:
Summary: Great Intro to Middle East
Review: This book does a lot in 408 pages. The first half of the book is more the base to understanding more modern happenings. The first half discusses Muhammad's life and influence; it sprints through the early caliphs and their influence; it briefly discusses the effect of Mongolian khans; and much more. The second half of the book is easier to follow and remember. It focuses on the creation of the present day nation-states and problems of the Middle East. If you want an understanding of people of the Middle East, their culture and their religion, their history as a people and as a mixture of people, this is a fine choice to start with.
Rating:
Summary: Great Intro to Middle East
Review: This book does a lot in 408 pages. The first half of the book is more the base to understanding more modern happenings. The first half discusses Muhammad's life and influence; it sprints through the early caliphs and their influence; it briefly discusses the effect of Mongolian khans; and much more. The second half of the book is easier to follow and remember. It focuses on the creation of the present day nation-states and problems of the Middle East. If you want an understanding of people of the Middle East, their culture and their religion, their history as a people and as a mixture of people, this is a fine choice to start with.
Rating:
Summary: Essential background to understand events today
Review: This extremely readable textbook by Arthur Goldschmidt, Jr. was assigned reading for my course at NYU about the history of the Middle East. This latest edition was published in 1998. Naturally there have been changes since then. But this, after all, is a history textbook. I can read about current events in the newspapers. What this book did was to give me that background. And it certainly is a rich background, one that I never knew before.In clear descriptive language the author describes the Middle East before and after Muhammad and the basic beliefs of Islam. He talks about the early Arab conquests and the differences between Islamic sects. He describes the various empires and discusses the role of European interests and westernizing influences. And he gives the reader a really good understanding of the various the countries and their shifting borders. Finally, he brings us up to date on the causes and conflicts of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Gulf War. It is all fascinating stuff and I soaked it all up, reading quickly and absorbing the context, rather than the details. Not a shabby accomplishment for only 362 pages. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Essential background to understand events today
Review: This extremely readable textbook by Arthur Goldschmidt, Jr. was assigned reading for my course at NYU about the history of the Middle East. This latest edition was published in 1998. Naturally there have been changes since then. But this, after all, is a history textbook. I can read about current events in the newspapers. What this book did was to give me that background. And it certainly is a rich background, one that I never knew before. In clear descriptive language the author describes the Middle East before and after Muhammad and the basic beliefs of Islam. He talks about the early Arab conquests and the differences between Islamic sects. He describes the various empires and discusses the role of European interests and westernizing influences. And he gives the reader a really good understanding of the various the countries and their shifting borders. Finally, he brings us up to date on the causes and conflicts of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Gulf War. It is all fascinating stuff and I soaked it all up, reading quickly and absorbing the context, rather than the details. Not a shabby accomplishment for only 362 pages. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent History: Great Detail to Present & Very Read
Review: Very informative book written by a man who can write to the masses in that he can explain detail of Middle East life, countries, religion and conflicts in terminology that is not too academic but inspiring to read. There is quite a bit of information provided by Goldschmidt who eases the burden of religious Middle East language (foreign to many of Americans) with a glossary for various words, names of leaders, places and things. He includes a historical timeline chart of the great events of the Middle East including excellent maps that keep the reader in place geographically as he covers the evolution of the Middle East by region, dynasties and individual countries. He starts with the definition of history and of the Arabs followed by the land before Muhammad and then a mini biography of Muhammad. What follows is a detailed but easy to read chapter on Islam and how it develops into a civilization. The expansiveness of Islam in the Middle East and the associated power of the Ottoman empire that threatened to dominate Europe and Asia. He covers the invasion of the Mongol hordes and the eventual investitures of the European powers and colonialism as the Ottoman Empire weakens to collapse after WWI. As he writes of the dominance in controling the Middle East by England and France and the initial settling of Jews in the early 1900's the seeds of distrust of the west start to obviously emanate. The term concise history is a bit misleading because Goldschmidt leads his student through WWII and its effect on the Middle East and the birth of Israel and Arab conflict. He also covers the surrogate relationship of English and France in trying to maintain control of trade routes, the Suez Canal and oil along with the USSR attempting to expand into the region. By the time I completed this book of just over 400 pages, I have a greater appreciation for the complex conflicts among the Middle East's Peoples not just Jewish and Arab but Sunni Muslims and Shi'i, Kurds, Maronite Christians, Armenians, Turks, Druze and various tribes within each country. Mr. Goldschmidt provides the reader a building platform to understand the Middle East, a great reference book and an avenue for more detailed reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Accomplishes Its Goals, But For Freshmen Only
Review: When I picked this book up I did not expect it to be a college textbook, especially because the back cover claims that it is suitable for the widest audience. This definitely is a text for college students, and beginning ones at that. The book must be reviewed in terms of its intended audience and the goals it tries to achieve, and it is at least partially successful as both a concise compendium of as much Middle Eastern history as possible, and as a good introduction to the subject for beginners. Don't expect extensive details and examinations of specific political or social events and trends. If you are looking for an introduction then this book certainly lives up to its title as a "concise" history, and you can find more specific and explanatory books elsewhere if desired. However, there are still some problems with this book, mostly related to Goldschmidt's writing style. There's a desperate tendency for trying to make topics "interesting" to students, and numerous annoying attempts at foreshadowing and suspense that merely result in the we'll-get-back-to-that-later refrain. Goldschmidt is concerned with analyzing deep trends and how they relate to the modern world, which is a good attempt to arouse interest in bored students, but these attempts merely devolve into personal opinions and weak rhetorical "what if" questions. There is also Goldschmidt's frequent use of the word "I" in the first person, which damages his credibility as a detached historian. This book runs the risk of turning off its intended audience - college students who don't have a prior interest in the subject. On the other hand, it accomplishes its goals of providing a concise introduction and summary to those who are interested, but it remains at a basic level.
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