Middle East Patterns: Places, People, and Politics

As author of Middle East Patterns, I'd like to point out that the paperback and Kindle edition is the fully updated fourth edition, published in 2006 (not the third edition and not the 1989 first edition as currently listed on Kindle). The book is based on my 20 years of experience in the Middle East as a diplomat and geographer and includes scores of updated maps, tables and pictures. Middle East Patterns covers key topics--oil and gas, ethnic groups and languages, religious and water conflicts. It also includes chapters and maps on all sixteen Middle East countries from Turkey to Iran, including Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Gulf and Israel. Designed for any reader who follows the news or is planning to travel to the area, it is especially useful for university students, teachers, diplomats, government and not-for-profit representatives, and business executives.

Dr. Held's vast experience working as a Middle East geographer for the U.S. State Department pays off in a comprehensive synthesis showing the importance of natural resources and human culture. He begins with an overview of Middle Eastern geography: climate, water resources, topography, petroleum, and human settlement. He then treats each country in a chapter that synthesizes geography, culture and politics. Chapters are well written and illustrated. The book is suffused with the author's fascination with the variety of human cultures in the Middle East.