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Title: The Middle East and Islamic World Reader

Subtitle: An Historical Reader for the 21st Century

Author: Marvin E. Gettleman - editor, Stuart Schaar - editor

Narrator: Mark Ashby

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-06-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, World

Publisher's Summary:

In this insightful anthology, historians Marvin E. Gettleman and Stuart Schaar have assembled a broad selection of documents and contemporary scholarship to give a view of the history of the peoples from the core Islamic lands, from the Golden Age of Islam to today.

With carefully framed essays beginning each chapter and brief introductory notes accompanying over 70 readings, the anthology reveals the multifaceted societies and political systems of the Islamic world. Selections range from theological texts illuminating the differences between Shiite and Sunni Muslims to diplomatic exchanges and state papers, to memoirs and literary works to manifestos of Islamc radicals.

This newly revised and expanded edition covers the dramatic changes in the region since 2005 and the popular uprisings that swept from Tunisia in January 2011 through Egypt, Libya, and beyond. The Middle East and Islamic World Reader is a fascinating historical survey of complex societies that - now more than ever - are crucial for us to understand.

Members Reviews:

Great materials on the Islamic world

I was very impressed with the selections Gettleman and Schaar used on the birth and growth of Islam, particularly their attention to Sufism. That they provided documents on (and about) women was another strong point in their collection. The first half of the book is fairly representative of the Islamic world, as it includes perspectives on Islam in India, the rise of the Safavid empire in Perisa, the Mogol conquest and rise of the Mamelukes in Egypt and some great samplings from the Ottoman age.

I was disappointed, therefore by the last half of the book which, by comparison, was narrower. The selection of readings on "pan-Arabism" and "Baathism" were very well done, as was its detail on the creation of a secular Turkey and an independent Pakistan. However, as previous reviews have noted, the selection of materials on Lebanon and Syria are very thin. I found the extensive readings on the origins and various perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian question, however, to be very well done and were equally representative of both sides - including the peace proposal by the Saud'is and an appeal by Palestinain intellectuals to stop suicide bombings. The final selections on geopolitics, oil and the cold war in the Near East and competing ideologies were also excellent - I was particularly impressed with the readings on Islamic radicalism.

Evaluating the strength of the documents alone would warrant three stars. However, before each section the authors provide an excellent summary of the broader themes of the social, political and intellectual changes that the Islamic world was going through as demonstrated by the readings. Their scholarship is outstanding, their writing erudite and the relation of the major points to the specific documents is immediately clear. On these merits I give it an extra star.

For serious students of history or those interested in a deeper understanding of the complex interplay of faith, ethnicity, social class and politics, this is an excellent resource, and is one I strongly recommend.

Top-Notch Scholarship

Gettleman and Schaar produce a compilation of some of the most insightful and significant documents required for a sufficient understanding of the Middle East/Islamic World.