A Concise History of the Middle East, Ninth Edition

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.

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.

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.

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.

I actually found this way too quick. After an engaging introduction about the founding of Islam I lost track as changing dynasties were rapidly listed without explanation. I realise there's a huge amount of history to cover but I personally found it very difficult to follow after a time. ...Maybe it's just me, as no-one else seems to have mentioned it, but I found the narration VERY fast. I also found that the main focus on Islam, as others have mentioned, didn't give me a complete picture of the entire region.

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.

The Middle East has been in turmoil for all my life; this audio book documents how this strife goes back a great deal longer. While our politicians have sometimes used self-interest and expediency to justify meddling in the area, we are now reaping the whirlwind. For me this audio book gives much needed historic background, corrects some of my assumptions and, I hope, gives me some insights into why the area is such a recurring flash point and worry to the world and why the peoples of the region seem destined to such constant misery.
A drawback of this audio book is that while the reader mentions maps and tables and other items as he reads from the print text, these are not available to an Audible listener. I listen on an ipod-- perhaps a series of "authors' bookmarks" and an interactive index might complete the experience.

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

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 .

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

After research. It seems to be Davidson

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

the book gives a clear , chronological and clear historical backgrounds on how the middle east has been formed and built.

t also gives a view on how the ordinary person living in the middle east has been affected by the historical changes happening around them.

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.