The Arabs

Put the book on shelf for sometime and just started to read .. history is just fascinating!!!

This is the most beautifully written book on the greater middle east..smoothly written..simply explained and sound & clear explaination takes your heart..definitely recommended!

I agree with Sir Alistair Horne who says that anyone who wishes to understand why the Islamic world bears a grudge against the West should read this book. At a time when Syria, Iraq, Libya,Yemen and to a limited extent, Egypt and Turkey are in disarray at present the world needs to be reminded that the source of many of the contemporary problems of the Middle East lies in unceasing intervention of the West in the region starting from the eve of The Great War for Civilisation. This book is an important aid towards that understanding. After reading this book one cannot but feel sorry for the Arabs, or for that matter, for all other colonized peoples.

Great purchase I have ever made through Amazon

A MASTER PIECE.

The Arabs : A history ------------------------------- A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots. - Marcus Garvey The Arabs a history, is a meticulously researched and a well written book, in fact if I have to pick TOP-10 books that every human should read once in a lifetime, then this masterly written literature is one of them The main USP of this book is that the reader will get five centuries (1516-2016) of the Arabic history in a single Book. Though the word 'Arab' sounds like a homogeneous entity with a similar kind of language, culture and tradition to the non-arabic people, but in reality this is not completely true. In fact if we travel to the North-african countries like Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria, we will find the language is Arabic but their dialects were different from each other, in fact each Arabic land have their own local traditions, food habits and cultures. The same we can conclude about the middle eastern countries like Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. In fact one of the many sins that was committed by the European colonist like Britain and France in the nineteenth and twentieth century, and by the United States in the 21st century, when they applied the illogical concept of one-size-fits-all, on the Arabs by considering them as a homogeneous entity. And before we discuss the mistakes that was committed by the European Powers in the Arabic lands, let's first talk about some of the basic facts on the Arabs. As you people are already aware of the fact that there is not a single entity like Arabic country or United Arab States, In fact there are dozens of countries where people speak the Arabic language with a slight variation in their dialects, and the people who speak the Arabic language are known as the 'Arabs'. Though before the Advent of islam in Arabia, the arabs were divided among the several tribes and the loyalty towards ones own tribe was considered utmost important at that time. But it changed suddenly when prophet Muhammad established the religion of Islam in 7th century, and afterwards his followers conquered the other tribes of Arabic lands, and unites the arabs under the banner of Islam for the first time. And from seventh century to twelfth century several Islamic dynasties like the umayyads, Abbasid, ruled the Arab land. Though there were several other powers also that emerged during that time, and one of them was the Mamluk dynasty of Egypt, and the mamluks ruled Egypt, Syria and hijaz from the 11th century. Though this changed suddenly in the 14th century when Ottoman sultan Selim-1, nicknamed 'The Grim', defeated the Mamluk sultan of Egypt, and conquered the Arabic lands of Syria, transjordan, and hijaz, and they remained in control of all these Arabic lands for nearly four centuries. But nearly four centuries of the ottoman rule on Arabic lands came to an abrupt end on 1918, when the ottomans lost the First World war. And the imperialist Powers like Britain and France got the Arabic lands which was previously under the ottoman rule. And after the world war first, Britain and France negotiated a secret agreement which was known as the 'sykes-picot' agreement. And according to this agreement, British got hold over the Iraq, Palestine and transjordan, and french received Syria and Lebanon as their mandates in the Arabic lands. In fact before the WW1, France and Britain conquered the Arab territories of North Africa which was also under the control of the ottomans at that time, so France captured Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, and Britsh got hold over the Egypt. Though after the second world war some Arabic states gained their Independence from the French and the Britsh government, but the divide and rule policies which was used by these colonist Powers to remain in control damaged the social fabric of the Arabic lands completely. For example by promising Jews their Homeland in the land of Palestine, the Britsh government started the conflict between the arabs and Jews,which hasn't resolved yet, similarly the sectarian policies adopted by the French colonist in Lebanon destroyed the unity amongst the Lebanese people and the best example was the 15year long Civil war in Lebanon. Infact the common arabs wants the rule of law and a accountable government and nothing else from their respective governments. And when their governments failed in providing these basic facilities the arabs revolted against their own governments which we called as the 'Arab spring'. Though it started from Tunisia in 2011, but it engulfed the whole Arabic region. And with the exception of Tunisia where the revolution succeeded, in other Arabic States like Syria, Bahrain, it failed badly. And especially in Syria where the world powers are playing the proxy war against each other since the start of the revolution in 2011. I will end with these lines- 'The Problems of the Arab world needs an Arab solution, not the American, Britsh or French'. The writing style of the author is awesome, and the language of the book is also not that tough. The author also included several photographs in the book which will make your reading more pleasurable. This book is a must read. My Ratings : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5) I hope you like this, thanks for reading, Jai Hind.

For must-read books like this, published by reputed publication houses, you expect decent paper quality, readable prints. Disappointed

Poor paper quality

Eugene Rogan's The Arabs - A History is a remarkable tour de force. Drawn almost exclusively from Arab sources, it covers the period from the rise of the Ottoman Empire over the Arab World in the 16th century to the American invasion of Iraq and its "war on terror" (for which read, "Arab terror") in the 21st century. Excellent in its detailed description and analytical incisiveness, I personally found the chapters dealing with the first decade of the 20th century and how the European powers in real malevolent, brutal and Machiavellian fashion brought the Arab world to submission especially rich. Also very powerful is the whole section on the British in Palestine and the cruel chaos of their legacy. The history of this entire period, to today, is one of Arab subordination to external forces. Occasionally glimpses of sunlight appear, whether Naaser's pan-Arabism or the power of oil, only to evaporate. As the author insists, the failure of the Arab world - for failure is the appropriate operative term - derives in part from the malignancy of external forces - the Ottomans, the Europeans, then the Americans - but also from the inability of the Arabs to properly get their act together or to evolve respectable and legitimate forms of governance. As the review in The Economist (14 Nov 2009) pointed out, this is very much of a political history. Those wishing to know more about the economics, sociology or culture (both highbrow and lowbrow) will be disappointed. Rogan at the end cites the Arab Human Development Report and how it laments the low level of education in the Arab world, yet in his own volume there is virtually nothing about education. Perhaps this could be a future tome! Even those who might claim to be reasonably familiar with the history of the region (including the present reviewer) will stand to gain a lot more insight on the whole mess of the West's imposition of and subsequent support for Israel in the region. There can be no doubt whatsoever that the Arabs, of course primarily the Palestinians, were dealt a very humiliating and cruel series of blows, from which they continue to suffer. Rogan's The Arabs should be made required reading for policy makers, especially in the US and also for the UK entourage of Tony Blair. Had the Blair/Bush intellectual midget duo read Rogan's book, the history of the region and the world in the early 21st century could have been very different. The fact that Tony Blair was appointed Middle East Quartet Representative adds immense insult to the long-standing injuries of the Arab people. Of course American and British policy makers may not read the book. You can bring a donkey to water, but you can't make it drink! But I would very strongly recommend this book also to the much wider public. I strongly recommend this book as a means for a much clearer understanding of the Arab world, but also of the world more generally.

アラブの歴史を理解したい…という思いは以前からありましたが、これまで、日本語の書物を手にするたびに挫折を繰り返していました。その点、本書はページ数（分量）にやや圧倒されましたが、中世からのアラブの歴史につき、とても整理されており、大変わかりやすく、また、時に臨場感溢れる感じで、読者を引き付けるスタイルで書かれております。中身が濃いだけに「一歩一歩」といった感じでしたが、最後まで読み遂げることができました。とても参考になりますね。

Excellent book

Short and quick: I'm an armchair historian, with a focus on American history. I am 57 years old. The "Middle East" has been "background noise" (please, I am not minimizing anything here) my entire life--noise, because I had no understanding about why anything that was happening there was happening. I knew the Ottoman Empire had existed. I knew that Britain and France had established colonial regimes across North Africa and through the Middle East. I knew about Zionism and the establishment of Israel. I knew vaguely about Nasser, the B'ath Party, that there'd been a "United Arab Republic" that strangely joined Egypt and Syria. I knew about terrorism and the wars and the calamities. But it was all noise because it made no sense to me because I didn't know the history of the Arab peoples. Well, now I know their history, at least as well as one can learn it from a 500 page book, and it's no longer "noise." I have some basic sense for why what has happened did and why what is happening now does. This book is essential reading (I paired it with Laquer's magisterial "A History of Zionism" to get a fuller knowledge base) for anyone who wants the "noise" to make some sense. Rogan writes thoughtfully and easily. His chapter on the rise of Arab nationalism in the years after Nasser's revolution in Egypt is a tour de force. His explication of the rotten legacy of imperialism and the insanity of the Cold War as it played out in the Middle East is compelling/ Some of the book is difficult reading: the Israelis have never claimed to be saints and his chapter on Palestine, the British Mandate and the Partition will not go down well with many people. But nothing in the Middle East goes down well and the book, overall, is a balanced, articulate and well-written history of the ARAB peoples, from the ARAB peoples' perspective. Read this book.

This is an excellent, highly readable study which covers the whole history of Arab peoples and their region but focuses on the "modern" history since around 1800. Highly readable and well digestable for laymen, it still gives valuable advide to the expert and, above all, a superb overlook of the topic, giving various clues and drawing on a broad variety of sources. - The Kindle Edition does not offer the best paper quality, so looking at my 20 year old paperbacks on my shelves, I wonder what it will look like in 10 or 20 years. Still, I suppose it will keep a better shape than the paperback edition (which is considerably cheaper).