A History of the Middle East: 3rd edition
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £1.80
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in A History of the Middle East: 3rd edition for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £1.80, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
A brilliantly deft and well-informed guide ... Peter Mansfield compresses the whole tumultuous development of this vast region into 350 coherent, dispassionate and remarkably inclusive pages (The Times Educational Supplement )
Product Description
Over the centuries the Middle East has confounded the dreams of conquerors and peacemakers alike. This now-classic book, fully updated to 2009, follows the historic struggles of the region over the last two hundred years, from Napoleon's assault on Egypt, through the slow decline and fall of the Ottoman Empire, to the painful emergence of modern nations, the Palestinian question and Islamic resurgence.
For this third edition, Economist journalist and Middle East correspondent Nicolas Pelham has written an extensive new chapter examining recent developments throughout the Middle East, including the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, the situation in Iran, the continuing Arab-Israeli conflict and relations with the US under President Obama.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having lost my first copy, I was keen to get a replacement since Peter Mansfield's ( and Nicolas Pelham's) descriptions of history and relations in the Middle East excel in succinctness, objective observations and its drawing of llines of development towards the present day situation. The book can be considered a sequel to PM's book "The Arabs", a very good introduction to the peoples of the Middle East. A "must read" for interested , in particular for expats living in the region.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There is much to admire and a fair bit to be considered a drawback in Peter Mansfield's sweep of the History of the Middle East.
To fit such a swathe of history into a small 400-page paperback is a bit of an art form in itself. Mansfield has a reasonable overview and a clear love of the Arabs throughout the book though he tries to be even handed throughout. There are obvious lacks and missing pieces throughout and it becomes somewhat eurocentric early on but in the age of empires this was the playground of the European empire hunters and the struggles were played out through many territories. There is also some of the old mechanistic line-through view of history and writing about history which comes through into the book as well. However given that this has to be seen as an overview of a vast stage of events then one can excuse this to a degree.
The latter chapters were written by Pelham and what they lack in grandee like writing of Mansfield they give an alternative to his view and style. A reviewer above called it Sunday-paper journalism but his sections read more like closet exiled academic.
This book tries very hard to give the reader the basis from which to look deeper into the areas that it covers. It raised my awareness generally and makes a good start from which to go on into deeper and more detailed studies. It needs to be regarded as a primer for further work. As a primer it does do a decent job but needs to read with a degree of awareness and not devoured as one. Read with a History of the Arab People and maybe Fisk's writing it points you in the right direction and wets your appetite for further understanding. It also does what all good books do and that is to make you reflect.
To fit such a swathe of history into a small 400-page paperback is a bit of an art form in itself. Mansfield has a reasonable overview and a clear love of the Arabs throughout the book though he tries to be even handed throughout. There are obvious lacks and missing pieces throughout and it becomes somewhat eurocentric early on but in the age of empires this was the playground of the European empire hunters and the struggles were played out through many territories. There is also some of the old mechanistic line-through view of history and writing about history which comes through into the book as well. However given that this has to be seen as an overview of a vast stage of events then one can excuse this to a degree.
The latter chapters were written by Pelham and what they lack in grandee like writing of Mansfield they give an alternative to his view and style. A reviewer above called it Sunday-paper journalism but his sections read more like closet exiled academic.
This book tries very hard to give the reader the basis from which to look deeper into the areas that it covers. It raised my awareness generally and makes a good start from which to go on into deeper and more detailed studies. It needs to be regarded as a primer for further work. As a primer it does do a decent job but needs to read with a degree of awareness and not devoured as one. Read with a History of the Arab People and maybe Fisk's writing it points you in the right direction and wets your appetite for further understanding. It also does what all good books do and that is to make you reflect.
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Lacks references/ citations of sources of evidence that one would expect to find in an authoritative work; therefore not really a scholarly work.
Peter Mansfield's narrative is interesting but where, later in the book, it has been 'revised and updated' by Nicolas Pelham it reads like sunday newspaper journalism.
Peter Mansfield's narrative is interesting but where, later in the book, it has been 'revised and updated' by Nicolas Pelham it reads like sunday newspaper journalism.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A History of Pakistan
This is a book that is frighteningly clear about the nature of Pakistan. It is the first history I have read and will need to be placed in the context of other accounts. Read more
Published 8 months ago by kenmafham
Paperback book
Order was dispatched within a couple of hours of ordering and arrived in the post the following day, was in good condition. Excellent service.
Published 10 months ago by RM
Concise
I found this book excellent for a concise view of the history in the middle east. Its worth a look.
Published on 3 July 2007 by gnostic
A thourough and interesting approach Middle Eastern history
This book covers the Middle East since 1800 in an fascinating way. Th reader is drawn into facts and expalnations of the differnt views. Read more
Published on 7 Nov 2000 by Ivan Zverzhanovski
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
