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of revision, Khouri, appearantly, did not make many changes in the original text, a fact that leaves much of the book outdated.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.
There are many good Muslims. Unfortunately, the author, Mr. Mamdani is not one of them. He is one of those verbal terrorists who continues to blame America and Israel for his own disastrous failures and the inability of the Arab and Muslim world to get past the 15th century. The chapters on America and Israel's Genocidal activities are filled with such ridiculous points that any 9 year old could refute them.If you would like to read a pathetic comedy, this is the right book. However, it is more of a waste of good trees. Mahmood is just another leftist professor who continues to criticize and abuse the hand that feeds him, America. He is no different than the troubled child who abuses his wonderful parents, and his silly book proves it.Irwin N. Graulich
A well-written book, and well documented. No matter what your view of the Arab-Israeli conflict, this book balances against the 99% of books that take a pro-Israel slant. I especially appreciated Khouri's calm, objective manner of discussing the issues.Is this book outdated? Heck no! What I think is interesting is that history basically never changes in the Middle East. This book is essential for any scholar of the area.