I_am_John_Galt said:
Pretty much anything by Bernard Lewis ... I also reccommend the Oren book mentioned by aesop081, above.
Most definitely, Lweis is probably the premier western historian on the Middle East. Other books to look at are:
- Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948-1991 by Kenneth Pollack. The title says it all.
- Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade by James Reston, Jr. A historical look at two of the great leaders of the Crusades.
- One Palestine, Complete by Tom Segev. A history of Palestine under the Brits and the conflict between Arabs, Jews and the Brits. Lots of info about Zionism, the conflict between Arabs, Jews and the Brits and the early leaders of the various factions. Will have to sit down and re-read the book.
- A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle east by David Fromkin. Have not had a chance to read the book, but it comes heavily recommended.
- Desert Queen - The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia. One of the main people responsible for the creation of modern Iraq; blame her - its her fault!
- The Crusades Through Arab Eyes by Amin Maalouf. An interesting look at the Crusades from an Arab perspective.
- Islam: A Short History Karen Armstrong. Again, the title says it all.
- Holy War: The Crusades and their Impact on Today’s World. Its been a few years since I read this book.
- Muhammad by Professor Maxime Rodinson. First written around 1960, but was not translated into English until 1971. I started reading it a while back, but did not get a chance to finish it.
- The Life of Muhammad: A Apostle of Allah by ibn Ishaq (edited by Michael Edwardes). Ibn Ishaq was the earliest known (that we know of) biographer of the Prophet Muhammad.
- Finally, if you ever get a chance to read Sir Steven Runciman’s history of the Crusades - take it!! It consists of three volumes and is considered the definite history of the Crusades. When I was stationed in NDHQ back in the late ‘80s - early ‘90s they had a copy in the NDHQ library and I had a chance to read some it. Very detailed, with beautiful maps. You can buy it in paperback, but I imagine you will lose some of the detailed maps that the hardcopy versions have. Remember, many Muslims consider the Crusades for much of their historical distrust of Westerners, so it still has relevance. Only cost you $567.00 (CDN) on Amazon.ca!!