Insight Into the Middle Eastern World
Explore the Middle Eastern world through a curated list of insightful books. Discover culture, history, and perspectives with top reads on Eastern traditions and modern dynamics.
Book
The Dream Palace of the Arabs
by Fouad Ajami
From Fouad Ajami, an acclaimed author and chronicler of Arab politics, comes a compelling account of how a generation of Arab intellectuals tried to introduce cultural renewals in their homelands through the forces of modernity and secularism. Ultimately, they came to face disappointment, exile, and, on occasion, death. Brilliantly weaving together the strands of a tumultuous century in Arab political thought, history, and poetry, Ajami takes us from the ruins of Beirut's once glittering metropolis to the land of Egypt, where struggle rages between a modernist impulse and an Islamist insurgency, from Nasser's pan-Arab nationalist ambitions to the emergence of an uneasy Pax Americana in Arab lands, from the triumphalism of the Gulf War to the continuing anguished debate over the Israeli-Palestinian peace accords. For anyone who seeks to understand the Middle East, here is an insider's unflinching analysis of the collision between intellectual life and political realities in the Arab world today.
Book
Hezbollah
by Hala Jaber
"Hezbollah" lifts the shroud of secrecy on the Shi'ite Muslim organization that has been synonymous with terror for the past 15 years. Jaber, a journalist specializing in Middle East coverage, was granted access to the Hezbollah's fighters, leaders, and strategists to prepare this exploration of the group's devotion to its cause. She also sheds light on Hezbollah's shadowy sister organization in Tehran. of photos.
Book
From Beirut to Jerusalem
by Thomas L. Friedman
Examines Israeli-Palestinian relations, the PLO, Israeli politics, Lebanese factions, news reporting from the Middle East, and other issues of the Middle East.
Book
The Book of Saladin
by Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali's second novel in The Islam Quintet is a rich and teeming chronicle set in twelfth-century Cairo, Damascus and Jerusalem.
