The Logic Off Topic list

Dennis Gunn wrote:

>Thank you.  Normally I believe every single word that I read.  I will
>try to be more careful in the future.  :-)
LOL

>Meanwhile I was just wondering where to get started on that
>particular subject.  Some of the books that I was able to find in the
>past were things like huge volumes of nothing but unedited
>transcriptions of very long winded political speeches by all the
>parties involved in negotiations etc... with very little in the way
>of reporting on the incidents that that were going on at the times
>the politicians were speaking.  Great stuff for someone doing a
>university thesis but not a good place to start for someone just
>trying to get a little grip.

Given your ability to not believe everything you read, you could perhaps 
try these:
Morroe Berger, "The Arab World Today"
Leonard Fein, "Israel: Politics and People"
J.C. Hurewitz, "Middle East Politics: The Military Dimension"
J.C. Hurewitz, "Soviet American Rivalry in the Middle East"
Kemal Karpat, "Political and Social Thought in the Contemporary Middle East"
Benjamin Shwadran, "The Middle East, Oil and the Great Powers"

Unfortunately, they're mainly quite old books now. Which probably won't 
make any difference since what you're after is some overall perspective. 
The Morroe Berger, for example, can be very hard to get hold of, but it 
should be in any good library.

Addendum:
And ... please ... before any body flames me about these books ... please 
instead try be helpful and actually suggest some others. I have simply 
recommended a few I know that fit Dennis' criteria but that are still 
academically respectable in the sense of (a) being reasonably accurate; and 
(b) genuinely trying to be objective and thus within the spirit of academic 
collegiality. It is also very difficult to recommend books by Arab writers 
when not many have been written. Instead of flaming me, please write the book.

Hope this helps, Dennis.

Kool Musick
Keep Musick Kool


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