The book presents a historical and political account of the middle east from 1922-1984. The book was originally written in 1968, then revised in 1976 and 1985. During the process of revision, Khouri, appearantly, did not make many changes in the original text, a fact that leaves much of the book outdated. Khouri's account takes a strong anti Israeli and pro Arab stance. For example, he chooses to downplay the Palestinian terrorist attacks during the 1970s and mentions such attacks as the attack on the Israeli athletes in Munich and the attack of the Marine base in Beirut with no detail. His study is based very closely on UN records and ignores the reality of the Middle East. 
 
This old chestnut of a book should be put out of its misery. It's written with style and a tone of authority, but careful reading shows that it is hopelessly slanted. On every significant point which involves historical uncertainty or controversy, the authors unquestioningly accept the left-wing/labor point of view and cynically disparage or totally ignore any other interpretation. This is Labor's "untold" story because no other reputable historians have ever had the nerve to write such an openly propagandistic book. Academic labor historians who think this book is so wonderful are merely showing their left-wing ideological colors. There are much better and more objective accounts out there. 
 
The book presents a historical and political account of the middle east from 1922-1984. The book was originally written in 1968, then revised in 1976 and 1985. During the process of revision, Khouri, appearantly, did not make many changes in the original text, a fact that leaves much of the book outdated. Khouri's account takes a strong anti Israeli and pro Arab stance. For example, he chooses to downplay the Palestinian terrorist attacks during the 1970s and mentions such attacks as the attack on the Israeli athletes in Munich and the attack of the Marine base in Beirut with no detail. His study is based very closely on UN records and ignores the reality of the Middle East. 
 