Product Description

The most comprehensive view of the region and its recent history in a post 9/11 world, this is the first textbook on the modern Middle East to examine its urban, rural, cultural and women's histories over its political and economic history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #340848 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review

'An important survey of the vital and much-neglected cultural and social history of the region.' – John Chalcraft, Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Edinburgh, UK

'In his expansive survey of Middle Eastern history over the last century, Ilan Pappe questions modernization as the best framework for understanding the history and seeks to provide an alternative that devotes much-needed attention to the ways in which non-elite groups were affected by, and participated in, the dramatic political, social, economic and cultural transformations of the period.' – Zachary Lockman, Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, New York University, USA

'Pappe directly challenges the negative stereotype of the Middle East as an undemocratic and pre-modern zone. He does this in an engaging manner, weaving his accessible narrative through chapters on political and economic history, rural history, popular music, the print and visual media, histories of Middle Eastern women, Islam and the region in the globalised 21st Century.' – The Times Higher Educational Supplement

From the Back Cover

This is the first introductory textbook on the modern Middle East to foreground the urban, rural, cultural and women’s histories of the region over its political and economic history. Distancing himself from more traditional modernizationist approaches, the author is concerned with the ideological question of whom we investigate in the past rather than how we investigate the past. This is a ground-breaking contribution to a more comprehensive view of the region in a post-September 11^th world.

Ilan Pappé begins his narrative at the end of the First World War with the Ottoman heritage, and concludes at the end of the twentieth century with the political discourse of Islam.

The Modern Middle East:

• includes a carefully argued introduction which discusses the methodology used in the textbook
• provides a thematic and comparative approach to the region, helping students to see the peoples of the Middle East and the developments that affect their lives as part of a larger world
• includes insights gained from new historiographical trends and takes a critical approach to conventional state- and nation-centred historiographies
• includes case studies, debates, maps, photos, an up-to-date bibliography and a glossarial index.
• includes full geographical coverage of the Middle East.

Accessible and original, The Modern Middle East is essential reading for introductory students on history or politics courses as well as for journalists and those working in the region.

Customer Reviews

Great for quick read
If you want a book to guide you through the history and events in the Middle East look no further. The content has depth and is well referenced. I did not come across any bias which is rare in most commentaries on the Middle East, especially in recommended books by American or Western European courses on the subject.

Illan Pappes' style is clear and there are many illustrations, maps and photos along with text, which add to the already interesting subject.

My only criticism is that is not very detailed and is best used as a quick reference. The section on Palestine, however, does not face these problems.

Very readable and Pappe says it as it is. Enjoy

Banal
Pappe has a 'cross to bare' - He is obsessed was his vilification of Zionism, it borders on the ridiculous how he brings up examples of "Israel's Evils" in topics such as Saudi oil economics. He is a one topic stuck-record, and it feels like it is his only motivation. His criticisms of Israel are mainly personal as he provides very little in the way of accurate and documented sources.
At the beginning of the book he freely admits he hasn't been able to spend significant time in any middle east country other than Israel. This shows in the overly idealistic way he presents the topic. He presents the majority of the book (not concerning Israel) in a quasi Marxist fashion stressing differences between urban and rural groups. The result is boring beyond words, and showing a great ignorance and ethnocentrism in his approach to this part of the world. It would appear this book was published solely to legitimize his fanatical views on the state of Israel.