A History of the Modern Middle East

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Introduction to the Broader Middle East
Review: "A Histrory of the Modern Middle East" By John Cleveland published
by Westview Press C. 1999 it is about 592 pages and is an outstanding book for general knowledge about the entire region including Iran. Real easy read but a lot of information. This should be for the type of person who really wants to learn about a very misunderstood culture, region of the world and faith. As with almost every book on the Middle East, It gives a nice introduction to Islam without deluging the reading with the minute details. It shifts very quickly to the 20th century but does give lip service to the Ottoman Empire especially the Janissary Corps (We get the modern Marching band from them). The author really shines in his discussion of the Arab Israeli conflict and the Palestinian Israeli conflict. All in all outstanding. The new edition has the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rating:
Summary: clear, consise and easy to read!
Review: Asside from being one of the most interesting and capturing professors at Simon Fraser University, Cleveland is an outstanding author! His book travels through modern Middle Eastern affairs in an unbias manner which is especially appealing for people new to the study of middle eastern history. His chapters use many subtitles which helps the reader along, and keeps them interested in the chapters events. Pictures and Maps give help to people who like view certain events they are reading about. This book is simply an easy one to read, and FINISH! I definitly recomend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the Middle East.

Rating:
Summary: Best possible introduction into Middle east history.
Review: At the start of the Israeli conflict there were about 800.000 Palestinians and 200.000 Jews in the Paletine Mandate. This number of people, the size of a medium town have kept the headlines for the last 60 years and has had a tremendous impact on world politics, most of the time through problems of terror to each other and innocent bystanders. The events of the 11th of September are only the last installment in this tragedy.

In order to understand just a little bit of this conflict it is absolutely necessary to have some background on the political history of the region.

Prof. Cunningham does the job more than 100%. In a dispassionate, objective and always well-researched and very clear prose het takes us from the start of Islam through the Ottoman empire to today.

By showing the roots from Islam he describes a territory which for very long was not defined by our concept of Nation-State, but much more a loose federation based on a common belief. In particular during the Ottoman empire it appeared in it's true form; a tolerant society respecting the various forms of Islam and, indeed, taking Islam as the main religion but tolerant of other religions as well.

He also demonstrates quite clearly the devastating effects colonization has had in this region. By introducing the Realpolitik of that time where countries like Egypt and Syria only were regarded as supply centers for commodities or easy transport ( Suez Channel),the social fabric was destroyed and, more important, the right of self-determination was denied.

Whilst in other parts of the world this may have helped to develop the countries, like e.g.India, in the Middle East it has led only to disaster. In particular the way Syria, Lebanon and Palestina were dealt with in the Sykes-Picot Agreement is beyond belief. The only two interests that were served were the French and the English. A similar pattern is seen in regions like Iraq and Iran.

The resentment against the West is deep and goes a long way back. And, to be sure, at leats for me I have compassion for this resentment. The people of the Middle East have served for a long time only as pawns on the international chessboard.

This in my view is the greatest value of Prof. Cunninghams book. He really takes us back to the many crossroads situation in the history of all these countries in the Middle East, demonstrates what choices there were and which have been chosen. Seldom this choice was the choice of the underdog in the game, the people themselves.

We therefore understand after reading the book that the people in the region believe that there are many flaws in our Western system and that they want to guard themselves against these by emphasizing their own, Islamic, values. Inevitably this leads to fundamentalism and extremism.

In particular, prof Cunningham shows the great despair of the Palestinian people. Driven from their home territory they have not a lot left to do. As a Westerner I had always feelings of sympathy for Israel and that remains. However, reading this book has made me see the Palestinian Plight in a much more reflective way and gave me understanding and sympathy for their situation as well.

Finally, a compliment for the writing; cristal clear and never boring.

Rating:
Summary: Not for the person totally unfamilar with Middle East
Review: It is with some reluctance that I offer this review. It is meant only as constructive criticism of a book written by an extremely knowledgeable author. I think this book would be great as a textbook for a formal class or for someone already somewhat familiar with the history and geography of the region. However, I started with neither. I only had only the desire to learn the background of a region that figures prominently in today's events. For me, the book delved into too much detail, the author describing all the intricacies of each transition of influence and power. There was more detail than I could comprehend outside of a classroom environment.

If I could put the rest of my life on hold and go into study mode, perhaps I could absorb more. In my opinion, this is one of those books where the author is so intimately familiar with the material that he forgets just how ignorant the reader may be. I also thought the book contained far too few maps. I finally purchased some additional maps but with all the boundary and name changes, maps are required much more frequently to illustrate what is occurring.

I carried this book with me for a year trying to get through it. I had to force myself to read it and I never did complete it. I have now ordered another book that I hope will be easier reading.

I did learn many things from the portion of the book I read and I have a vague Idea what happened from the beginning of Islam through the period prior to World War 1. However, that is where I finally gave up.

I am not saying this is a bad book. In the right hands, I think it would be a wonderful book. That said, I believe the book is not for people looking for background that cannot study it as a textbook. The target audience of this book may not be people such as myself and I may have selected a totally inappropriate text.

There are many aspects of the history of the Middle East that do not lend themselves to easy reading. However, some authors can make history live, for nothing is as interesting as history. No novel can spin a wilder tale than history itself. This book just did not make history live for me. I will save it and perhaps one day when I have more background, I will read it again.

Rating:
Summary: Not for the person totally unfamilar with Middle East
Review: It is with some reluctance that I offer this review. It is meant only as constructive criticism of a book written by an extremely knowledgeable author. I think this book would be great as a textbook for a formal class or for someone already somewhat familiar with the history and geography of the region. However, I started with neither. I only had only the desire to learn the background of a region that figures prominently in today's events. For me, the book delved into too much detail, the author describing all the intricacies of each transition of influence and power. There was more detail than I could comprehend outside of a classroom environment.

If I could put the rest of my life on hold and go into study mode, perhaps I could absorb more. In my opinion, this is one of those books where the author is so intimately familiar with the material that he forgets just how ignorant the reader may be. I also thought the book contained far too few maps. I finally purchased some additional maps but with all the boundary and name changes, maps are required much more frequently to illustrate what is occurring.

I carried this book with me for a year trying to get through it. I had to force myself to read it and I never did complete it. I have now ordered another book that I hope will be easier reading.

I did learn many things from the portion of the book I read and I have a vague Idea what happened from the beginning of Islam through the period prior to World War 1. However, that is where I finally gave up.

I am not saying this is a bad book. In the right hands, I think it would be a wonderful book. That said, I believe the book is not for people looking for background that cannot study it as a textbook. The target audience of this book may not be people such as myself and I may have selected a totally inappropriate text.

There are many aspects of the history of the Middle East that do not lend themselves to easy reading. However, some authors can make history live, for nothing is as interesting as history. No novel can spin a wilder tale than history itself. This book just did not make history live for me. I will save it and perhaps one day when I have more background, I will read it again.

Rating:
Summary: Just another review
Review: The beauty of this book lies in Cleveland's ability to link the events of each country in the Middle East's to one another. The book does not break each country into its own exclusive section like an elementary text book for simpletons, but rather into different eras and side by side with its neighboring states to demonstrate how revolutions, ideological shifts, economic policies, foreign alliances, etc. impacted one another. Another strength is Cleveland's willingness to show the West's often [bad] role in and the destruction the wake their imperialism left. It essentially gives you everything you need to know to have legitimate convictions on the current state of the ME.

Rating:
Summary: A student taking modern middle history
Review: The first thing that might come to a student's mind with a history textbook would be the words: tedious, dull and unexciting. And do not worry because Cleveland possesses none of these negative qualities. Cleveland covers every topic on the modern Middle East to Oslo agreements and Muhammad Ali in Egypt. The book explains the history of a foreign culture and region that many people do not understand and he writes it in an easy to read format. I promise that it will not be the most exciting book in the world to read, but it will offer you knowledge on the Middle East that only a few actually understand and know. I am a history major at Indiana State University and took a course on modern Middle Eastern history taught by Robert Hunter that wrote "The Palestinian Uprising: A War by Other Means."

I considered Cleveland's textbook on the Modern Middle East a great source of history. After reading this book, I guarantee that you will better understand the present-day crisis in the Middle East than over ninety-five percent of the people in the United States.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent background reading for all Americans
Review: The Middle East is such a multi-faced region with such a rich historical legacy that even people who strive to be well-informed cannot help but feel bewildered at its cultural, political, and religious complexity. Given the blustering aggressiveness of the post-September 11 U.S. policy toward the region, however, Americans owe it to themselves to become far more familiar with the complexities of the Middle East than has been our wont up to now.

Popular magazine articles that attempt to "explain" Islamic rage as the result of a "fear of modernity" or "jealousy of the west's freedoms" may as well bear a stamp proclaiming their authorship by the "Ministry of Propaganda." As an alternative, I recommend Professor Cleveland's textbook, which serves as a brief but remarkably thorough introduction to the history of this volatile part of the world.

No, the book does not cover Afghanistan or Pakistan, but clearly political currents in these nations are closely linked with what has transpired in Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, and the rest of the Middle East proper. At the heart of the current crisis is, of course, the Israeli-Palestinian condundrum, and here the author's explanations and analyses are clear, balanced, and incisive. His discussions of the evolution of Saddam Hussein's Iraq and the background *and consequences* of the 1991 Gulf War are also invaluable. In his recounting of the Iranian revolution, Cleveland offers a fascinating analysis of the apparent Islamicist rejection of "modernity," showing that those in the Middle East who reject the West do not crave a return to the ancient past, but instead wish to follow a modernization pathway that is guided by indigenous cultural principles, including the precepts of Islam.

Perhaps most impressive, however, is what Cleveland has to say toward the end of the book regarding the dangers of an overly intrusive and domineering presence in the Islamic Middle East by the lone remaining planetary superpower, the U.S. He does not prophesy the recent terrorism that has afflicted this country, but he does criticize the U.S. for policies that seem to rely more upon aerial bombardment than careful diplomacy. The application of Cleveland's conclusions to a reevaluation of the likely long-term consequences of "America's new war" is not a comforting process, but it's one that perhaps more Americans need to undertake.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Introduction to Middle East
Review: This was a book I had to read for an introductory history of the middle east class and it is excellent. With all the bias floating around esp. now, this book provides an objective history of the region. I made the mistake of selling it back (was broke college student) and I regret it. But I am buying it again just to have it for reference which should give you some insight to what a great book it is.