100 Myths about the Middle East

I have to admit that when I picked this book up, I was skeptical. However, I was soon blown away by the knowledge and wisdom contained in this book. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Islam or the Middle East. I particularly liked the discussion of Israel, because it is very balanced and historically accurate. The depiction of the Iraq war (2002) is spot-on: the U.S. was not after oil, and not against Saddam per se, but wanted to "reestablish control of the region". I think that is accurate. The book makes some great points, such as, ruling "cleptocracies" in the Mid-East use the Israel-Palestinian conflict to deflect criticism away from themselves. I also liked the assertion that Arabs have a great sense of humor (whereas we think of them as "grim" and "lacking in humor"). This jives with the Arabs I knew when I went to university in Germany: they were without exception, warm, humorous people. The book will surely disappoint extremists, but then again, reality tends to do that.

One of the best book of alll times. I think all Americans should read this book for better understanding of the eastern culture and religon. Thank you Fred.

I very much enjoyed reading through this book. As a Palestinian reader I admit I approached it with some apprehension having experienced many negative portrayals of Arabs in the past even in books claiming to be neutral. The book was rather surprising in its frank discussion of myths about the Middle East many of which are believed by Middle Easterners about themselves and their neighbors. I especially liked the author's objective approach especially when dealing with issues of religious faith. I recommend it for any one interested in that area regardless of where they are from. A minor complaint is the author's Arabic, which should have been checked by a native speaker. The explanations of some words are just incorrect. For example, in the section about Arabic humor, he confuses that the word `nukta' (Arabic for `joke') with the word `nuqta' (Arabic for `point') claiming they are the same word.

This book si an excellent choise for whom wants to learn basics about Middle East. I also would like to add some comments about the Jill Malter's review. For most part of it, I disagree with the malter's review, who obviously comes from an anti-Arab and pro-Israeli background. However, Like malter says I agree that terorism must be condemned no matter where it is origin, whether it is Israeli or Arab.