Despite its reputation for religious intolerance, the Middle East has long sheltered many distinctive and strange faiths: one regards the Greek prophets as incarnations of God, another reveres Lucifer in the form of a peacock, and yet another believes that their followers are reincarnated beings who have existed in various forms for thousands of years. These religions represent the last vestiges of the magnificent civilizations in ancient history:...

From secular-minded autocrats like Saddam Hussein to religious fundamentalists like Osama bin Laden, powerful voices in the Islamic world have been united by a fierce hatred of the West. If we want to know why they think the way they do, we have to understand the history of Islam and its continuous interactions with the West. This masterly collection of essays by a leading expert on Islam and the Middle East ranges over the whole sweep of Islamic...

"A longtime American foreign policy insider's biting and definitive reckoning with the high cost of this country's ambitious meddling in the Middle East-and its bitter end The culmination of almost 40 years of expertise and insider policy access, Grand Delusion is Steven Simon's tour de force, offering a comprehensive yet analytical tour of U.S. involvement in the Middle East. Simon begins with the Reagan administration, when the Middle East shifted...

Explores religion, philosophy, and nationalism in Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco.

The former Israeli senior official on Arab affairs and internationally acclaimed educator offers an unbiased, unparalleled view of the Middle East. Israeli intelligence analyst Avi Melamed forgoes the mainstream media's articles explaining what's happening in the Middle East and spends his time reading Arab and Israeli news and talking with people on the ground, often ones in fear of terrorism on a daily basis. To do this, Avi delves deep into its...

A fascinating look at ancient Eastern history, from the Babylonian Empire to the conquest of the East by Alexander, written by British archaeologist and scholar David George Hogarth of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum.

"Irene L. Gendzier presents incontrovertible evidence that oil politics played a significant role in the founding of Israel, the policy then adopted by the United States toward Palestinians, and subsequent U.S. involvement in the region. Consulting declassified U.S. government sources, as well as papers in the H.S. Truman Library, she uncovers little-known features of U.S. involvement in the region, including significant exchanges in the winter and...

Emerging from a tour of duty in Iraq with a badly injured leg, CIA soldier Roger Ferris takes on a mission to infiltrate the network of a master terrorist and bases his plan on a British intelligence operation from World War II.

Nineteen poems about the Middle East and about being an Arab American living in the United States. "Tell me how to live so many lives at once ..." Fowzi, who beats everyone at dominoes, Ibtisam, who wanted to be a doctor, Abu Mahmoud, who knows every eggplant and peach in his West Bank garden, mysterious Uncle Mohammed, who moved to the mountain, a girl in a red sweater dangling a book bag, children in velvet dresses who haunt the candy bowl at the...

In an unnamed Middle Eastern security state, a young Arab-Indian hacker shields his clients, dissidents, outlaws, Islamists, and other watched groups, from surveillance and tries to stay out of trouble. He goes by Alif, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, and a convenient handle to hide behind. The aristocratic woman Alif loves has jilted him for a prince chosen by her parents, and his computer has just been breached by the State's electronic...