 | A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East by David Fromkin
Buy new: $14.40 / Used from: $5.85 The most definative account of the formation of the modern Middle East from the ashes of the Ottoman Caliphate, this is one of my favorites.
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 | Arabists: The Romance of an American Elite by Robert D. Kaplan
Buy new: $13.53 / Used from: $0.01 This book is for anyone interested in diplomatic service in the Middle East. This is truley one of the most influential books I have read.
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 | The Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle East by Abraham Rabinovich
Buy new: $11.53 / Used from: $5.80 Rabinovich writes an exciting account of how Israel almost lost to the guns of Syria and Egypt but then eventually triumphed.
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 | Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam by Professor Gilles Kepel
Buy new: $17.52 / Used from: $3.00 Offers a different view on Islamist movements, saying that Islamism is actually on the decline
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 | Ataturk: The Biography of the founder of Modern Turkey by Andrew Mango
Buy new: $16.47 / Used from: $10.25 A must have for any Middle Eastern library, it describes the life of Turkey's modern secularist founder Kemal Ataturk.
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 | A History of the Arab Peoples by Albert Hourani
Buy new: $11.55 / Used from: $0.01 Although this book melds both Islamic history and Arab history it is a must have none the less.
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 | The Arab Mind by Raphael Patai
Buy used from: $0.19 Patai describes Arab ethos and their effect on Arab society.
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 | Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia by Janet Wallach
Buy used from: $0.84 Another must have, Gertrude Bell: co-founder of modern Iraq and advisor to the Hashemites.
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 | Understanding Iraq: The Whole Sweep of Iraqi History from Genghis Khan's Mongols to the Ottoman Turks to the British Mandate to the American Occupation by William R. Polk
Buy new: $20.20 / Used from: $1.30 Dr. Polk offers a history of Iraq and then some solutions to the current security dilemma Iraq.
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 | From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas L. Friedman
Buy new: $11.56 / Used from: $0.01 Friedman gives his first hand accounts of being in Lebanon during their Civil War, Syria after dictator Hafez Asad killed 20,000 in Hama, and Israel during the intifadah.
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 | A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time (Second Edition, Revised and Updated) (v. 1) by Howard M. Sachar
Buy used from: $3.27 A very objective history of Israel. I can't wait until they come out with a third edition to cover the latest conflict.
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 | The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq by Kenneth M. Pollack
Buy used from: $0.01 Just like it says on the title, this best seller offers the case for invading Iraq, this book didn't fall on deaf ears in the Bush administration.
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 | Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Michael B. Oren
Buy new: $12.21 / Used from: $4.00 No Mid East collection is complete without a book on the Six Day War. This book is arguably the most complete and interesting.
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 | History of Islamic Philosophy (Routledge History of World Philosophies)
Buy new: $97.45 / Used from: $48.93 Yet another must have. This book is packed with articles on famous Islamic philosophers throughout the ages. In addition it has a large section on Jewish philosophy.
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 | The Persian Puzzle: The Conflict Between Iran and America by Kenneth Pollack
Buy used from: $1.03 Pollack describes how the US cannot stop Iran from going nuclear.
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 | Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph by T.E. Lawrence
Buy new: $14.28 / Used from: $4.11 An English literary classic by famed leader of the Arab revolt against the Ottomans: T.E. Lawrence.
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 | Greater Syria: The History of an Ambition by Daniel Pipes
Buy new: $60.00 / Used from: $6.26 Pipes describes in great detail the ambitions of Syria to have a Pan-Syrian state which would include Lebanon, Jordan, & Israel
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 | Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948-1991 (Studies in War, Society, and the Militar) by Kenneth M. Pollack
Buy new: $18.21 / Used from: $7.89 Not as highly rated as other books by Pollack, Arabs at War offers a very complete analysis of Arab fighting abilities from Israel's War of Independence until the Gulf War of 1991
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 | The Shiites by David Pinault
Buy new: $85.00 / Used from: $19.97 A very good summation of Shi'ism complete with diagrams.
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 | An English Translation of the Holy Quran With Full Arabic Text by A. Yusuf Ali
Buy new: $14.93 / Used from: $19.54 No Middle East list would be complete without the Quran, I especially enjoyed the English and Arabic.
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 | Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism by Dore Gold
Buy new: $22.36 / Used from: $0.01 Dore Gold speaks in depth about Saudi Arabia's connection to modern Islamist terror across the globe
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 | The Conquest of the Sahara by Douglas Porch
Buy new: $11.25 / Used from: $6.13 A comprehensive account of European colonialism in the Maghrib.
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 | Nasser: The Last Arab by Said K. Aburish
Buy new: $25.60 / Used from: $7.93 Want to know about the leader of the 'free officers revolt', modern founder of Pan-Arabism, and Egyptian dictator Gamel Abdel Nasser? Yes? Then this book is for you.
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 | Yemen: The Unknown Arabia by Tim Mackintosh-Smith
Buy new: $17.05 / Used from: $1.89 A great primary historical resource on the nation of Yemen.
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