One of the best history books I've ever read. Gelvin's command of an enormous canvas is extraordinary, as is his insightfulness and ability to make linkages that had not occurred to me. For such a masterful work, it is a relatively easy (and quite witty) read. ( )

This is a brisk and pretty informative introductory survey of the history of the Middle East, in which Gelvin attempts to explain contemporary events in the region by looking at how two key forces of modernity have shaped it. The first is global capitalism; the second, the system of nation-states. It's probably unfair to criticise him for simplifying certain things, or omitting particular events, when trying to write a book of this scope on this scale. Some things just have to be left out. However, I did think he could have spent a little more time, if not expanding on certain areas, then on thinking some of his ideas through a little more. For instance, Gelvin does discuss the problematic nature of the term "modernity" and why he thinks it's still useful, but I have to admit that as a historian of the pre-modern era, I really dislike the term and find it presentist, and nothing in Gelvin's argument really swayed me from that opinion. As a chronology, then, the book is useful, but I'm not sure that I entirely buy its narrative underpinnings.

The conclusion has acquired an unintended interest from the events which occurred surely as this third edition was heading into print—Gelvin, it seems, wouldn't have predicted the events of the Arab Spring any more than would have most other outside observers. No doubt there will be some interesting comparisons to be made between this version of the book and its successor. ( )