The Middle East and Islamic World Reader

I was very impressed with the selections Gettleman and Schaar used on the birth and growth of Islam, particularly their attention to Sufism. That they provided documents on (and about) women was another strong point in their collection. The first half of the book is fairly representative of the Islamic world, as it includes perspectives on Islam in India, the rise of the Safavid empire in Perisa, the Mogol conquest and rise of the Mamelukes in Egypt and some great samplings from the Ottoman age. I was disappointed, therefore by the last half of the book which, by comparison, was narrower. The selection of readings on "pan-Arabism" and "Baathism" were very well done, as was its detail on the creation of a secular Turkey and an independent Pakistan. However, as previous reviews have noted, the selection of materials on Lebanon and Syria are very thin. I found the extensive readings on the origins and various perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian question, however, to be very well done and were equally representative of both sides - including the peace proposal by the Saud'is and an appeal by Palestinain intellectuals to stop suicide bombings. The final selections on geopolitics, oil and the cold war in the Near East and competing ideologies were also excellent - I was particularly impressed with the readings on Islamic radicalism. Evaluating the strength of the documents alone would warrant three stars. However, before each section the authors provide an excellent summary of the broader themes of the social, political and intellectual changes that the Islamic world was going through as demonstrated by the readings. Their scholarship is outstanding, their writing erudite and the relation of the major points to the specific documents is immediately clear. On these merits I give it an extra star. For serious students of history or those interested in a deeper understanding of the complex interplay of faith, ethnicity, social class and politics, this is an excellent resource, and is one I strongly recommend.

This is a really good book for looking at snapshots of the history and the political and religious divions of the islamic world. Had the editors been more objective rather than subjective, I would have given the book a 5 star rating.

Gettleman and Schaar produce a compilation of some of the most insightful and significant documents required for a sufficient understanding of the Middle East/Islamic World. Topics range from the origins of Islam, through the budding of modernity, all the way to the formation of OPEC, Arab/Israeli conflict, and 9-11. The book is set up similar to Gettleman's hugely popular "Vietnam and America Reader." All primary sources are given an in-depth introduction with a readable and complete set of historical context. This book is friendly enough for the layman and yet contains some of the most seminal, current, and balanced scholarship. The primary documents bring Middle East studies alive while providing the key to todays geopolitical and economic issues.