{"product_id":"the-middle-east-a-brief-history-of-the-last-2000-years","title":"The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2 000 Years","description":"\u003cp\u003eAs the birthplace of three religions as and many civilizations  the Middle East has for centuries been a center of knowledge and ideas  of techniques and commodities  and  at times  of military and political power. With the histoical -- and still growing -- importance of the Middle East in modern politics  historian Bernard Lewiss cogent and scholarly writing brings a wider understanding of the cultures of the region to a popular audience. In this immensely readable and broad history  Lewis charts the successive transformations of the Middle East  beginning with the two great empires  the Roman and the Persian  whose disputes divided the region two thousand years ago; the development of monotheism and the growth of Christianity; the astonishingly rapid rise and spread of Islam over a vast area; the waves of invaders from the East and the Mongol hordes of Jengiz Khan; the rise of the Ottoman Turks in Anatoia  the Mamluks in Egypt and the Safavids in Iran; the peak and decline of the great Ottoman states; and the changing balance of power between the Muslim and Christian worlds. Within this narrative  Lewis details the myriad forces that have shaped the history of the Middle East: the Islamic relgion and legal system; the traditions of government; the immense variety of trade and the remarkably wide range of crops; the elites -- military  commercial  religious  intellectual and artistic -- and the commonality  including such socially distinct groups as slaves  women and non-believers. He finally weaves these threads together by looking at the pervasive impact in modern times of Western ideas and technology  and the responses and reactions they evoked. Rich with vivid detail and the knowledge of a great scholar  this brilliant survey of the history and civilizations of the Middle East reveals the huge Islamic contribution to European life  as well as the European contribution to the islamic world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44945748426805,"sku":"ByrdShop_0684807122","price":27.51,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780684807126.jpg?v=1769908575","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-middle-east-a-brief-history-of-the-last-2000-years","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}