The Arabs in History

Bernard Lewis is one of the world's foremost scholars on Islamic history and the Middle East. He has written a multitude of books, some dealing with more specific aspects of the Muslim world and it's relations with the West. But here history is written in broad strokes, as Lewis covers Arabic history from pre-Islamic Arabia to the present day. If you are not familiar with the subject matter then this book will be an outstanding primer. But even those already knowledgable will appreciate Lewis' articulate and insightful analysis. Commerce, warfare, religion and the arts are all discussed, with particular attention paid to the grand achievements of the Ummayyad and Abbasid Calipahtes during Islam's "Golden Era". The reviewer from Scotland that claims Lewis is a neo-con with a bias against his subject clearly has not read the book and has no idea what he is talking about. Lewis is a serious scholar who comes across as highly objective, discussing both the glories and failures in Arab history. He also is one of the few academics able to write in a pleasurable and easy to read style while still maintaining his scholarly credibility This book is a classic of non-fiction and I recommend it to everyone with an interest in history.

After a short chapter entitled "Arabia before Islam," The Arabs in History is essentially a history of Arab Muslims from the time of Muhammad, through the hundreds of years of Islamic imperialism, to the short time of European dominance, to contemporary Islamic nationalism and resurgence. While some will think the Lewis is a neocon who hates Muslims, others will protest that he downplays both the atrocities committed by Muslim rulers, and the humiliation forced on dhimmis down through the centuries (dhimmis were Christians and Jews who were subjugated, humiliated and forced to pay protection money just to save their lives). Either way, the book is a well written and highly informative treatment of a very complex subject by a world-renowned expert in Islamic history.

This book covers the history of the Arabic world since pre Mohammed times to date. Of course, given the length of the book, you cannot expect a very detailed treatment nor an in depth analysis (the same author seems to offer them in other works). But as a concise and first-approach History is very useful. If you just need to get the facts, a road map and a sense of what has been the History of the Middle East, this is a very useful book. It is short, fast to read and opens up your appetite for more. It does not answer questions but it does something more important: it makes you ask lots of questions.