Robin Wright is an excellent author, knowledgeable of the history and people of the Middle East, and it's a pleasure to read her analysis of the affairs of that region. This book, Dreams and Shadows, while becoming outdated since it was written prior to the "Arab Spring", still offers interesting insights into the turmoil in the Middle East at that time.

The author gives the reader insights into the history, the leaders, and key events which shape the countries in the region, specifically the Palestinian Territories, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Morocco and Turkey. My interest in reading the book, six years after being written and several years after the Arab Spring, was to see what changes may be observed in those. Sadly, the hope and change of the area is still something for the future. Egypt has seen one ex-military strongman go, and another come. The Palestinian Territories continue to be squeezed and continue the fight for a homeland for the displaced Palestinians, Syria is in turmoil worse than before, Iraq remains in a post-war mess, Iran's struggles continue, etc. While the author noted that the region, in 2006, was ready for and in need of change, change for the better still seems far off into the future. ( )

Excellent book about the pre-Arab Spring Middle East. ( )