The Arab World Today: Second edition

by William R. Polk

Examines historical, social, religious, and political factors in the Arab lands as they effect domestic policies and relations with the United States

Genres: Middle East, History

480 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

William R. Polk taught Arabic literature and history at Harvard University and the University of Chicago, served on the Policy Planning Council under President Kennedy, negotiated the Egyptian-Israeli Suez ceasefire, and founded the Adlai Stevenson Institute of International Affairs. He has written nineteen books.

Reviews

[Linus Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a broad overview of the arab world from pre-islamic times up to what may be considered the modern era. Polk spends rather less time than I would like on pre-islamic and early islamic history, and rather too much time on the post-wwII arab world, but it is a textbook and the records from the 20th century are considerably easier to examine than records for antiquity, so I will cut him some slack. It's a good overview of contemporary thought about the arab world, both from within and without, and how western and eastern intervention and meddling have destabilized, but also brought a sense of identity, to the region. Not a *fun* read, but a decent one.