Middle Eastern Studies Books

Showing 1-50 of 555
Orientalism Orientalism (Paperback)
by (shelved 8 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.14 — 31,030 ratings — published 1978
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A History of the Arab Peoples A History of the Arab Peoples (Paperback)
by (shelved 7 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 3.88 — 4,705 ratings — published 1991
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The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (Hardcover)
by (shelved 5 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.55 — 10,984 ratings — published 2006
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A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and The Creation of the Modern Middle East A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and The Creation of the Modern Middle East (Paperback)
by (shelved 5 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.22 — 10,023 ratings — published 1989
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Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph (Paperback)
by (shelved 4 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 3.91 — 12,443 ratings — published 1926
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The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East (Vintage) The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East (Vintage)
by (shelved 4 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.41 — 5,760 ratings — published 2005
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Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon (Paperback)
by (shelved 4 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.45 — 2,473 ratings — published 1990
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From Beirut to Jerusalem From Beirut to Jerusalem (Paperback)
by (shelved 4 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.15 — 13,318 ratings — published 1989
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Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World (Paperback)
by (shelved 4 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.10 — 2,092 ratings — published 1997
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On Palestine On Palestine (Paperback)
by (shelved 3 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.25 — 13,651 ratings — published 2015
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Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom (Hardcover)
by (shelved 3 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.65 — 1,428 ratings — published 2018
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Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land (Paperback)
by (shelved 3 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.04 — 863 ratings — published 1986
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Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic (Hardcover)
by (shelved 3 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.11 — 1,353 ratings — published 2013
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All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror (Paperback)
by (shelved 3 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.30 — 12,930 ratings — published 2003
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Tea with Hezbollah: Sitting at the Enemies' Table Our Journey Through the Middle East Tea with Hezbollah: Sitting at the Enemies' Table Our Journey Through the Middle East (Hardcover)
by (shelved 3 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 3.86 — 1,373 ratings — published 2010
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The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (Hardcover)
by (shelved 3 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.12 — 4,709 ratings — published 2006
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The Question of Palestine The Question of Palestine (Paperback)
by (shelved 3 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.39 — 3,429 ratings — published 1979
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Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid (Hardcover)
by (shelved 3 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 3.92 — 5,204 ratings — published 2006
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The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 3 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 3.88 — 2,508 ratings — published 2006
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Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village (Paperback)
by (shelved 3 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.12 — 3,288 ratings — published 1968
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The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years (Paperback)
by (shelved 3 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 3.81 — 2,507 ratings — published 1995
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Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return (Persepolis, #2) Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return (Persepolis, #2)
by (shelved 3 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.22 — 80,800 ratings — published 2001
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Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Persepolis, #1) Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Persepolis, #1)
by (shelved 3 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.27 — 238,646 ratings — published 2003
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The Message The Message (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.49 — 45,200 ratings — published 2024
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Classical Poems By Arab Women Classical Poems By Arab Women (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 3.56 — 188 ratings — published 1999
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One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.56 — 71,445 ratings — published 2025
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Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.77 — 5,804 ratings — published 2025
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What Does Israel Fear From Palestine? What Does Israel Fear From Palestine? (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.30 — 3,609 ratings — published 2024
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Ten Myths About Israel Ten Myths About Israel (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.39 — 6,297 ratings — published 2017
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The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.13 — 4,327 ratings — published 2000
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A History of the Modern Middle East A History of the Modern Middle East (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.08 — 1,827 ratings — published 1993
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Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.02 — 1,305 ratings — published 2018
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The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of U.S. Power The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of U.S. Power (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.14 — 1,082 ratings — published 2022
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Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.40 — 6,525 ratings — published 2020
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The Perfumed Garden The Perfumed Garden (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 3.38 — 1,046 ratings — published 1499
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The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Very Short Introduction The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Very Short Introduction (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.04 — 2,485 ratings — published 2013
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The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited (Cambridge Middle East Studies, Series Number 18) The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited (Cambridge Middle East Studies, Series Number 18)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 3.99 — 179 ratings — published 1988
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The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017 The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017 (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.49 — 38,535 ratings — published 2020
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The Daughters of Kobani: A Story of Rebellion, Courage, and Justice The Daughters of Kobani: A Story of Rebellion, Courage, and Justice (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.06 — 3,626 ratings — published 2021
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A Rage for Order: The Middle East in Turmoil, from Tahrir Square to ISIS A Rage for Order: The Middle East in Turmoil, from Tahrir Square to ISIS (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.24 — 1,152 ratings — published 2015
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On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines - and Future On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines - and Future (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 3.79 — 1,465 ratings — published 2012
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Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly, and the Making of the Modern Middle East Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly, and the Making of the Modern Middle East (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.09 — 17,291 ratings — published 2013
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Girls of Riyadh Girls of Riyadh (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 3.28 — 21,413 ratings — published 2005
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Israel/Palestine: How to End the War of 1948 Israel/Palestine: How to End the War of 1948 (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 3.99 — 141 ratings — published 2002
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The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World (Norton Paperback) The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World (Norton Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.23 — 995 ratings — published 2001
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No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.46 — 4,351 ratings — published 2014
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Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.02 — 7,506 ratings — published 2015
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Baghdad without a Map and Other Misadventures in Arabia Baghdad without a Map and Other Misadventures in Arabia (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 4.01 — 4,272 ratings — published 1991
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Patriot of Persia: Muhammad Mossadegh and a Tragic Anglo-American Coup Patriot of Persia: Muhammad Mossadegh and a Tragic Anglo-American Coup (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as middle-eastern-studies)
avg rating 3.99 — 529 ratings — published 2012
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Louis Yako
“Hiba S. is one of the pioneer Iraqi women academics and authors in the field of media and journalism, currently exiled in Amman. During a visit to her office in summer 2014, Hiba shared that the early days of the occupation in 2003 were the most difficult she had ever experienced. She recollected:
‘I was sitting in my garden smoking when I suddenly saw a huge American tank driving through the street. I saw a Black soldier on the top of the tank. He looked at me and did the victory sign with his fingers. Had I had a pistol in my hand, I would have immediately shot myself in the head right then and there. The pain I felt upon seeing that image is indescribable. I felt as though all the years we had spent building our country, educating our students to make them better humans were gone with the wind.’
Hiba’s description carries strong feelings of loss, defeat, and humiliation. Also significant in her narrative is that the first American soldier she encountered in post-invasion Iraq was a Black soldier making the victory sign. This is perhaps one of the most ironic and paradoxical images of the occupation. A Black soldier from a historically and consistently oppressed group in American society, who, one might imagine had no choice but to join the military, coming to Iraq and making the victory sign to a humiliated Iraqi academic whose country was ravaged by war. In a way, this image is worthy of a long pause. It is an encounter of two oppressed and defeated groups of people—Iraqis and African Americans meeting as enemies in a warzone. But, if one digs deeper, are these people really 'enemies' or allies struggling against the same oppressors? Do the real enemies ever come to the battlefield? Or do they hide behind closed doors planning wars and invasions while sending other 'oppressed' and 'diverse' faces to the battlefield to fight wars on their behalf?
Hiba then recalled the early months of the occupation at the University of Baghdad where she taught. She noted that the first thing the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) tried to do was to change the curriculum Iraqi academics had designed, taught, and improved over the decades. While the Americans succeeded in doing this at the primary and high school levels, Hiba believed that they did not succeed as much at the university level. Iraqi professors knew better than to allow the 'Americanization of the curriculum' to take place. 'We knew the materials we were teaching were excellent even compared to international standards,' she said. 'They [the occupiers] tried to immediately inject subjects like "democracy" and "human rights" as if we Iraqis didn’t know what these concepts meant.' It is clear from Hiba’s testimony, also articulated by several other interviewees, that the Iraqi education system was one of the occupying forces’ earliest targets in their desire to reshape and restructure Iraqi society and peoples’ collective consciousness.”
Louis Yako, Bullets in Envelopes: Iraqi Academics in Exile

Abhijit Naskar
“Qatar & The West (The Sonnet)

All of a sudden the entire west is peeved at Qatar,
Because only the west has exclusive rights to exposure.
All of a sudden we care about the migrant workers,
The Afghans, Palestinians and Kashmiris no longer matter.
Human rights issue here is, we don't care about human rights,
We only care about filling the air with hypocrisy and mania.
Our poster boy just dumped half his new workforce as garbage,
We buy Oscar, ditch Batgirl, and we diss Qatar for buying FIFA!
We are just peeved that the Arabs are showing off for a change,
Sure it's unacceptable, since showing off is a western tradition.
Yes, it's true that the Middle East reeks with human rights issues,
But it is also teeming with passion beyond western comprehension.
If you really care about human rights stick to a cause for more than a fortnight.
Otherwise keep your trap shut, lest you open and be proved a privileged white.”
Abhijit Naskar, Himalayan Sonneteer: 100 Sonnets of Unsubmission

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