The New A-Z of the Middle East

by Alain Gresh and Dominique Vidal

Packed with facts, figures and brilliantly informed background analysis, this is an indispensable, highly readable guide to the political conflicts in today's Middle East. Written by two of Europe's foremost experts on the region, The New A-Z of the Middle East is a handbook with a difference: seeking to provide the reader with the vital keys required to understand the various social, religious and economic trends, political events and personalities...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1860643264
• ISBN13: 9781860643262
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris & Company
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

The best travle companion - ever

Found this book before a vacation trip to Lebanon, just before the war. It was super to have a book where you could look up different events/persons/organsiations/wars and such. Incredible! It gave me such insight of the country's history and all it has gone through. The trip was also grate except for the air strike that the Israelis launched against Beirut. A bit too much modern history, a bit to close.

A terrific study

Over the last few years I've read about 20 books on the middle east - roughly 15 of them on the Arab-Israeli conflict, and I still found this book hugely informative. I don't know did the authors plan this, but the book exhbits the perfect balance of breadth, depth, and concision. Plus it's all done in a very readable style. Readers new to the region's history will find all the Arab-Israeli wars fully explained; a profile of each major country; a special section on peace conferences, oil, foreign powers who have influenced the region; religions and ethnic groupings (Kurds, Druze etc) and all of the major historical (and current) figures profiled. In addition, they have taken the trouble to profile some lesser-know figures (Issam Sartawi, for example); and some issues that do not have a *direct* bearing on the middle east (e.g, the Nazi genocide). Each entry is at least a page in length and the book is very up-to-date: the assault on Jenin gets an entire entry, for example, and Marwan Barghouti's jail sentence is dicusssed. This is easily the best one-volume book on the region you can get at the moment - perfect if you're a novice to the middle east, still useful if you know the details. I'm honestly surprised that I'm the first to review it here.