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A Concise History of the Middle East, Ninth Edition  By  cover art

A Concise History of the Middle East, Ninth Edition

By: Arthur Goldschmidt Jr., Lawrence Davidson
Narrated by: Tom Weiner
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Publisher's summary

The ninth edition of this widely acclaimed text has been extensively revised to reflect the latest scholarship and the most recent events in the Middle East. As an introduction to the history of this turbulent region from the beginnings of Islam to the present day, the book is distinguished by its clear style, broad scope, and balanced treatment. It focuses on the evolution of Islamic institutions and culture, the influence of the West, the modernization efforts of Middle Eastern governments, the struggle for political independence, the course of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the roles of Iraq and Iran in the post-9/11 Middle East, and more.

Arthur Goldschmidt, Jr., is professor emeritus of Middle Eastern history at Pennsylvania State University. He is the author of Modern Egypt: Foundation of a Nation-State and the recipient of the Amoco Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching and the 2000 Middle East Studies Association Mentoring Award.

Lawrence Davidson is a professor of history at West Chester University. He is the author of several books, including America’s Palestine and Islamic Fundamentalism.

©2010 Westview Press (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

“The premier text for the study of the Middle East. Goldschmidt and Davidson’s well-written and solidly argued analyses of the most important and crucial developments of Middle Eastern history and politics…could not be timelier.” (Robert Olson, University of Kentucky)
“I can only offer unmixed praise for the new edition of A Concise History of the Middle East….Sparklingly clear and straightforward for even the ‘general reader.’…Remarkable.” (Mark Seifter, Lehigh Carbon Community College)
“Well-organized, comprehensive, balanced, and exceptionally readable….The authors blend significant historical detail with timely political analysis in a cogent style that is compelling and lucid.” (Donald Wagner, North Park University, Chicago)

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What listeners say about A Concise History of the Middle East, Ninth Edition

Average customer ratings
Overall
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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Worse than a waste of time

This book is one of the least informative texts I have ever read on Middle East history. It is full of unsupported (and unsupportable) opinions/assertions instead of stating the facts. It ignores so many events in Islamic history that would inevitably reveal Islam and its rulers in a negative way that it must certainly be intentional. The authors fail to mention many of the troubling actions of Muhammed (assassinations, political intolerance, banditry, etc), avoids discussing the intolerance of Muslim rulers such as Hakim who destroyed the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, avoids discussing the mass slaughter of Hindus in India, and the list goes on. It also provides an unnecessarily biased account of European imperialism which blames Europe for everything yet portrays Arabic and Turkish imperialism, which was arguably far more intolerant and harmful to the occupied lands than Arabs and others under Europeans, as something wonderful. This is a totally biased whitewash of Middle East history and was worse than a waste of time as it is actually counterproductive to any effort at understanding the history of the region. If my children brought this book home from school as a textbook, I would have to speak to the school to have the text changed or remove my child from the class. If you want a book about the Middle East that, although biased in favor of Islam and the Arabs, actually provides sufficient information about the region that you can glean some understanding, get History of the Arab Peoples by Hourani or any of the books by Bernard Lewis who is far more objective and honest both about the history of Islam, Arabs and especially the Turks.

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75 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Save your money!

This should be retitled: "A Rambling Editorial on the Greatness of Islam, the Evil of Zionist Demon Dogs, and How American Imperialist Swine Get What They Deserve." I'll try to be more clear. There is no discussion of ancient history of the Middle East. This "history" begins with Mohammed. For the first 14 of the 18 hours of runtime the authors at least maintain the facade of serious historians, however as the issues become more contemporary the semblence of objectivity evaporates. The last hour and a half of the text is an open editorial, decrying Israeli "war crimes", abusive American foreign policy, and open pleas for Barack Obama to save the Middle East from the evil policies of lying Neo-Con Cowboys. The authors have no shame about expressing their own political opinions rather than presenting the facts so the audience may decide. Save your cash, this is no history, and it is no deal.

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33 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fair assessment of Arab-Israeli conflict.

This audiobook is a good listen. It gives more perspectives than other history books. The period detailing colonialism, nationalist struggle, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict are fairly depicted. Overall it is balanced and provides good overview of modern Middle East history.

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29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

An honest, detailed and well written history

I found this work both interesting, well organised and much better suited to the audio format than other such works. The authors do a good job in separating fact, analysis and opinion. They are not afraid to give their own (diverging) views on the arab-israeli conflict, but emphasize that the listener should make up their own mind based on a solid knowledge of the history, which the book provideds the basis for. To anyone looking for a non biased history and not propaganda from the arabs or israelis this is a great start.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Good on Detail Poor on Politics

Covering the spectrum of Arabic History, the book did an adequeate job in limit space for the first 3/4 of the book. The addition of political analysis towards the end was an obvious attempt to promote a political agenda. The book played fast was facts and literary license glossing over many contributing factors in the U.S.'s Mid-East policy promoting such a pro-arab line it departed from norms of history writing right into a political science agenda. Discard the last 1.5 hours and you have a descent history of the middle east for dummies reference.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Far More Than I Expected.

Maybe because I set my expectation too low due to some of the above reviews, which I now find extremely unfair, I really enjoyed this audiobook.

Just a little over three days after I downloaded it, today I understand substancially better the never ending conflicts in the Middle East.

I won't remember the dates and names, except those I am already familiar with and learnt even more about, I now get the big geopolitical picture.

Great source of knowledge.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Good overview, not free of mistakes

Very good overview of the region and part of its history (mainly since the time of Muhammad). As I approached the modern time and the Arab-Israeli conflict (which makes up a big part of the second half), I noticed a lot of inaccuracies, things that were omitted and things that are misrepresented (like taking a most extreme event and preceding it with "for example"). I think the authors wishful thinking got mixed too much with the attempt to describe reality as they approached modern times. Still, it is worth reading, never as the only book on the subject, and with a critical approach.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Certainly not history, but what is it?

I went to audible and got this book because we seem to bashed with European and US history but have very little exposure to anything else. Given that the middle east is the cradle of modern civilization, the topic of the book seemed a perfect place to start; I had listened previously from audible the really great books "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich," "Charlemagne," "Postwar" and "No Simple War," all books that are strongly recommend for those like me who want an entertaining yet detailed account of historical events.

Gosh, was I for a disappointment for this one. What the authors call "history" is an accumulation of names and labels with almost no context about the social environment where things happen. It's very difficult to relate to anything when things are exposed in a dry sequence of historical terminology without any broader analysis that can fit things together. I do understand the role of religion, but does a proper history book needs to offer extensive quotes to religious texts; shouldn't we expect the authors to summarize these quotes and draw the conclusions from observed historical behavior. And, not that religion is unimportant for the history of the region, but shouldn't the rise of religion be explained as part of the social environment rather than an exogenous fact?

But perhaps what I miss the most is the lack of un-historical things we find in the best history books, the historical anecdotes that give new light to the dry historical facts and which, I suppose, would require a lot more research. Combine encyclopedia-style exposition with some religious quotes and this is what you should expect there.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Typical Textbook

This history of the Mideast is indeed concise and to the point. It is generally a good introduction to the subject but flawed.

The book reads like a textbook for high school, rather than college level. As a textbook it suffers by arguing with previous, unnamed historians about interpretations of certain events. Without any referent, these arguments add little to the narrative. The textbook style also interrupts the narrative, so the audiobook does not flow as well as other narrative histories.

The authors mar the overalll subject by maintaining a multiculturalist view of the Mideast. While Islam and Arabs did indeed produce marvelous science, mathematics, and philosophy, the authors continually extoll these over the accomplishments of Western Civilization. This bias isn't merely a matter of viewpoint, but a conscious effort on the part of the authors to denigrate the accomplishments of the West in favor of those from the Mideast. This presentation, especially when dealing with current politics, turns a blind side to real understanding of contemporary events.

Tom Weiner's reading of the book is excellent and the audio recording is of high quality. I would recommend this book as a supplement to understanding the Mideast, but not as a first book or introduction to the subject.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Good Book hijacked by Politics

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Removed the politics from the section starting in 1945 and make it a history book vs. the political statement they are trying to make.

Would you ever listen to anything by Arthur Goldschmidt and Lawrence Davidson again?

After listening, I couldn't figure out why it changed. I researched the authors and found Goldschmidt to be the historian and Daivdson to be some type of radical political type. Why would Goldschmidt let Davidson obviously takeover everything after 1945 and turn it into a weird personal political statement .

What about Tom Weiner’s performance did you like?

Good, easy to listen to , Didn't attempt to dramatize the book (which is a good thing)

What character would you cut from A Concise History of the Middle East, Ninth Edition?

After research. It seems to be Davidson

Any additional comments?

The title and career of Goldschmidt deserves better than to allow real work be skewed by a radical political agenda. Too bad.

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10 people found this helpful