The Middle East: A History

Now celebrating its fiftieth anniversary The Middle East: A History has long been the standard introductory textbook in the field of Middle Eastern history. It is the most comprehensive one-volume treatment of Middle Eastern history from the rise of Islam to the present time now available featuring full coverage of the central and peripheral Middle East. There is a thorough and balanced discussion of the political religious social gender economic and cultural history of the region. As a comprehensive textbook it provides teachers and students with a general introduction in narrative form to the chief elements in Middle Eastern history thereby allowing readers to proceed into more specialized topics and themes with a firm understanding. This new edition features major revisions for the period from 1939 to the present including updated analyses of Iraq since 2003 the status of the Arab-Israeli peace process and the administration of Mahmud Ahmadinejad in Iran.