Middle East Fiction

In this masterly work of synthesis, Peter Mansfield, drawing on his experience as a journalist and a historian, explores two centuries of history in the Middle East. He forms a picture of the historical, political, and social history of the meeting point of Occident and Orient, from Bonaparte's marauding invasion of Egypt to the start of the Gulf War. For more than four thousand years, the Middle East has provided a setting for titanic struggles between great civilizations and religions.

Iqbal, a 13-year-old boy, fights for children's liberation. Bravely, he speaks out against children working long hours in carpet factories in Pakistan.

New York Times bestseller and Newbery Honor Book! A gorgeously written, hopeful middle grade novel in verse about a young girl who must leave Syria to move to the United States, perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and Aisha Saeed. Jude never thought she’d be leaving her beloved older brother...

A groundbreaking collection of essays by celebrated international writers bears witness to the human cost of fifty years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. In Kingdom of Olives and Ash, Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, two of today's most renowned novelists and essayists, have...

Some missions are sanctioned. Others are personal. This one could change history. Winner of the 2023 National Jewish Book Award for Hebrew Fiction in Translation, Operation Bethlehem is a tense, morally charged espionage thriller written by a bestselling Israeli author and former intelligence officer. What if your only shot at redemption meant risking your life to uncover one of history’s greatest mysteries that is powerful enough to reshape the Middle East? Set among the sacred stone walls of modern-day Bethlehem, Operation Bethlehem blends high-stakes espionage with the suspense of a ...

A rich and varied collection of contemporary short stories, extracts from novels, and poetry that will go a long way toward informing the English-speaking world of the latest developments in Iranian literature. This sampling - or to use the Farsi term golchine, a bouquet - provides a window onto an important but sorely neglected segment of world culture. We hope it will also serve to awaken further interest in the work and in translations of Iranian novelists and poets.

The fourth book in the bestselling The Mouse That Roared series brings the Duchy of Grand Fenwick's most extraordinary achievement yet--the defeat of OPEC and the happy solution to the world's oil crisis, which came about through the best that international diplomacy has to offer: duplicity and dumb luck. It all began when the Count of Mountjoy, the prime minister of Grand Fenwick, was unable to get a hot bath because of the fuel shortage... Books in The Grand Fenwick Series: Books 2 through 5 are best read after The Mouse That Roared, but all of the books can be read and enjoyed at any ...

A shocking act of terror brings the Middle East to the point of explosion. As the resulting political conflict threatens to erupt, a young Jewish American lawyer joins the defense team of an arrested but possibly innocent Palestinian. Soon the lawyer's father, a famed criminal attorney, must win the Palestinian's case or risk losing his daughter forever. To do so, he must take into account the tormented history of the Holy Land from every possible angle.

While living for a dream to change the world around them, how do dreamers immerse in their dream and live in it? How do they turn the dream to become their reality? How do they make their happiness and sorrows part of it? What happens to the dream and what happens to the dreamers? find out in this story, see it through the eyes of the people who lived it.

Maze of Destiny paints a vivid picture of a Syrian family struggling to survive amidst the chaos and brutality of war. Mullah Abdullah, a respected imam, sees his peaceful world shattered when a bombing devastates his mosque. Injured and grappling with fear, he must confront the terrifying reality of a war that spares neither places of worship nor human lives. Meanwhile, his wife Amani faces a mother's worst nightmare: their daughter, Zahra, has been kidnapped. As Amani desperately seeks news of her daughter and tends to her injured husband, Zahra finds unexpected solace in her friendship ...

Fifteen-year-old Charlotte is restlessly coming of age in early twentieth-century Basra, Iraq. The daughter of a Seattle doctor and missionary, Charlotte craves an adventure of her own making. Just the thought of the steppes, hills, valleys, and the winding river stirs Charlotte’s imagination and sends her compass of flight dancing. So, preferring the wondrous unknown to solicitude, Charlotte packs up copies of her father’s Gospels and a statue of the Baby Jesus and runs away.

The start of the Arab spring, inspires Leila to summon enough courage and run away from her husband, believing that in Tahrir Square she will free herself from the shackles of her abusive marriage. An illegitimate child of an illiterate maid and a well-off doctor, Leila’s dream is to find her father, a man she only knows from an old yellowed photograph. Instead, she spends twenty-five years in a loveless marriage. After she escapes her husband, she embarks on an adventure which takes her from joining a revolution, to the slums of Cairo where she gets involved with a fundamentalist sect. ...

Screams Without Words is a gripping fictionalized narrative inspired by real events that expose the devastating realities of war, the fragility of peace, and the resilience of the human spirit. When West Point graduate Mike Adams is recruited by the CIA after demonstrating exceptional leadership during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, he is thrust into the heart of the Middle East. Assigned to the CIA station at the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, Mike’s mission takes a dangerous turn as the Israeli-Hamas conflict erupts into brutal warfare. Tasked with rescuing American hostages ...

It’s Rashin’s first day of school in America! Everything is a different shape than what she’s used to: from the foods on her breakfast plate to the letters in the books! And the kids’ families are from all over! The new teacher asks each child to imagine the shape of home on a map. Rashin knows right away what she’ll say: Iran looks like a cat! What will the other kids say?

Shaza, a Syrian-Canadian housewife, is happily married and living the Canadian dream with a beautiful house in the suburbs, a loving family, and amazing friendships. When shy and sweet Shaza decides to abandon her family and embark on a strange journey of her own, her friends—Najat, Sonia, and Reem— are left entirely baffled. Did her husband harm her? Did she try and go back to Syria? Is she tied to the conflict? They follow her journey which takes her to Istanbul, Jordan, Netanya, Mecca, Jeddah, and London. Her friends come to learn the secrets which Shaza has harboured all of her life...

A daring rescue. A family betrayal. A spy in the making. In the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan, elite operative Afsar Ramos is sent to do a difficult task: infiltrate hostile territory, locate a hidden compound, and rescue three UN hostages before time runs out. Armed with only a small team, a suppressed Sig Sauer, and an iron will, Afsar races against enemy eyes and the ghosts of his past. However, a single sniper's bullet exposes a devastating truth — Afsar’s enemy is not a stranger. It’s his own blood. Afsar must confront the twisted legacy of a family torn apart by ...

What would happen if Iran had nuclear weapons? Are you sure you want to know? Really sure? Because once you read this story, you can't unread it. The scenario is fictional. The physics are real. The politics are uncomfortably familiar. And the people who die in these pages could very well be you and me. For decades, the world has negotiated, sanctioned, threatened, and bargained with Iran over one question: what happens if they get the bomb? This is that story. Go ahead. Read it. But don't come complaining to me when you lose sleep for weeks.

Michael Vaux, ex-journalist and occasional MI6 operative, is back. The reluctant hero of The Wayward Spy and Operation Saladin is about to find himself pulled back into the violent world of espionage and counterterrorism. After a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda in the Muslim Maghreb terrorist group expresses a desire to defect, MI6 can't afford to ignore his request. The information he holds could help prevent future terrorist attacks. An envoy is sent from Morocco to negotiate a deal with MI6. But on his return, while under the protection of novice agent Sebastian Micklethwait, the envoy ...

At the start of 1991, 11-year-old Ali Fadhil was consumed by his love for soccer, video games, and American television shows. Then, on January 17, Iraq's dictator, Saddam Hussein, went to war with 34 nations led by the United States. Over the next 43 days, Ali and his family survived bombings, food shortages, and constant fear. Ali and his brothers played soccer on the abandoned streets of their Basra neighborhood, wondering when or if their medic father would return from the war front. Cinematic, accessible, and timely, this is the story of one ordinary kid's view of life during war.

A narrative of perseverance, tenacity, and the unrelenting search for justice may be found buried deep under the glistening dunes of the Middle East, behind the sparkling skyscrapers of the region's most contemporary treasure. The events of "Dubai Mirage" take place amid the maze-like streets of Dubai, where the protagonist, Tom Black, an experienced American war veteran, is searching for peace and a sense of purpose via teaching. His intent was to make a difference in the lives of students in the surrounding area by overcoming cultural gaps through education. However, what he believes ...