About this title: From the first cannonballs fired by American warships at North African pirates to the conquest of Falluja by the Marines - from the early American explorers who probed the sources of the Nile to the diplomats who strove for Arab-Israeli peace - the United States has been involved in the Middle East. For well over two centuries, American statesmen, ...
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Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780393058260ISBN:0393058263
Description: Very good in good dust jacket. Pages in nearly like new condition. DJ shows some slight wear. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 672 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780393058260ISBN:0393058263
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780393330304ISBN:0393330303
Description: Acceptable. COVER CREASED! ! ! MAY HAVE COVER WEAR, SPINE CREASES, HIGHLIGHTING, UNDERLINING & PAGES YELLOWED FROM AGE. FASTER SERVICE FROM US! ! ! read more
Description: Fine. 0393330303 NEW/UNREAD! ! ! Text is Clean and Unmarked! --Be Sure to Compare Seller Feedback and Ratings before Purchasing--Has a small black ink mark on outside edge of pages. May have light shelf wear to cover from storage, if any. read more
Description: Fine. 0393330303 Ships next business day. NEW/UNREAD! ! ! Text is Clean and Unmarked! --Be Sure to Compare Seller Feedback and Ratings before Purchasing--Has a small black line on bottom/exterior edge of pages. May have light shelf wear to cover from storage, if any. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co
Date Published: 2008-02-17
ISBN-13:9780393330304ISBN:0393330303
Description: Very Good. A copy that has been read, but remains in great condition. Cover shows minor signs of wear, corners curled. Pages appear intact with no markings. Book only, unless otherwise specified. Due to item size or weight, standard shipping only. Delivery confirmation on all domestic orders. Fast Shipping. read more
Description: Fine. 0393058263 Ships next business day. NEW/UNREAD! ! ! Text is Clean and Unmarked! --Be Sure to Compare Seller Feedback and Ratings before Purchasing--Has a small black dot on bottom/exterior edge of pages. May have light shelf wear to cover from storage, if any. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co
Date Published: 2008-02-17
ISBN-13:9780393330304ISBN:0393330303
Description: New. New, unread, unused & in perfect condition with no damaged or missing pages. Pre-release book with same cover and stickers. Great Copy. Ships Lightning Fast. read more
Edition: Second Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Norton, New York
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780393058260ISBN:0393058263
Description: Near Fine in Near Fine jacket. 9&1/2" by 6&1/2" Black spine on tan boards, gilt title, clean and tight, 778 pages, illustrated; jacket is clean and bright, slight edge wear. read more
"INTERESTING AND INFORMATIVE INSIGHTS ABOUT OUR DIPLOMATIC INTERACTIONS WITH VARIOUS COUNTRIES IN THE MIDEAST OVER THE LAST 200 YEARS. AUTHOR PROVIDES HISTORY OF THE REGION- ALL IN ONE SOURCE."
"This is a book to be studied and pondered. For those (me) not informed of the history of American involvement in the Middle East beginning in 1776, the volumre brings a host of surprises. Oren includes North Africa among the states of the Middle East - the term Middle East was not coined until 1902 and boundaries never have been defined. The book is timely on several fronts. By Page 54: "Remarkably, Jefferson maintained the hope of building an international coalition against Barbary...Meanwhile, North African 'insolences,' as the President called them, multiplied. Tripoli looted two American brigs, the Catherine and the Franklin...""
"A mammoth tome (over 600 pages, plus endnotes and index) that at times bogs down.
This book really focuses on America's involvement in the Middle East (including North Africa), skipping over other events as much as possible and condensing the last 50 years into less than 100 pages (which is acknowledged by the author). The extreme focus of the narrative is a both a weakness and a strength: some of the events referenced briefly left me a bit confused due to lack of familiarity with them. Yet the strict focus helps put across the author's thesis and keeps the book from becoming any weightier than it already is.
The idea that America's behavior in and toward the Middle East has always been colored by a combination of the pursuit of power (mostly economic), faith (missionary work and/or Israel), and fantasy (an poor understanding of the region and it's people colored by undereducated leaders and unrealistic portrayals in fiction) is a reasonable idea reasonably well supported by the work.
My own conclusions are also that history teaches us the Middle East needs to be dealt with largely through consistent shows of strength; vacillating policy and signs of weakness merely undermine policy in this region as much as any other. I am pretty sure this was the conclusion I got from another book I've read relating the Middle East and/or terrorism, though I don't recall which one."
"Michael Oren must be a horrible lay. I say this because only a horrible lay could take a subject as rife with passion and controversy as America's involvement in the Middle East and make it a mind-numbingly dull read.
Furthermore, while the book's subtitle is "America in the Middle East from 1776 to the Present", Oren only spends the last 20% of the book discussing the last 70 years of history (the period in which I was most interested), stating outright that he did so because there are many other books that cover the subject in detail. A bit more truth in advertising would have helped me adjust my expectations accordingly.
Despite this disappointment and the fact that I gave up on the book twice before finishing it, Oren does cover a lot of new historical ground here, and it substantially increased the context in which I form my own thoughts about the Middle East and America's actions there."
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