A History of the Modern Middle East, 5th Edition

This book arrived in brand-new condition, and the price for the size and quality was great. I'm using this for my Modern Middle East class at college, and the professor stated that for the price, this was the best book for finding the most concise and useful history describing how the Middle East we know came to be. Some of the names and words are not the typical spellings, but differ based upon the author's discretion. The book reads well, has maps interspersed for better understanding, and has occasional pictures to depict important figures. The glossary is quite useful in defining unfamiliar terms. All in all, one of my favorite textbooks - it's one of the useful ones!

I purchased this book as part of the required reading for a college course. I was surprised at how easy it was to read and how much it kept my attention. I did not want to put the book down. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to invest the time to learn about the history of the Middle East.

I purchased the kindle version of this book as part of the required reading for a History class I am taking. The book is well-written and informative. There have been many times that I have used this book as the main source for papers and discussion assignments. It gives a comprehensive history of the Middle East, including the roles of Islam, interference and support from the West and East, and how the countries we know today came into existence. The only reason I did not give the book 5 stars is because the kindle version does not have page numbers. If I were reading this book for my own enjoyment, this would not have been a problem, but because I needed this book for a class, it was difficult to quote the book as a source with no page numbers. I had to use the Index a lot to count back or forward to the page I needed. The Index is also cut off, so the first two words or so of each entry are cut off, which makes is difficult to find the topic for which I am searching. Other than these formatting issues, the book would have received 5 stars.

I had never studied any Middle Eastern history before, and this book was very thorough and clear about a lot of things. It could have been organized a bit better, but I can't see how it could have been much more helpful. It was required reading for my Modern Middle Eastern Studies class, and after reading a chapter, I was usually prepared for the lecture.

This is a helpful source, just need to realize that it is a textbook and is presented accordingly .

Excellent, decently specified history of the Middle East, wonderful book to own and read chapter by chapter when you have time. Try a chapter or 2 a day or every couple of days

I am an amateur student of Middle East history and current events, it's more of a hobby. I have read several books of varying types and I just can't put this one down. The chapters are well organized and it is written in plain, easy to read text. I highly recommend it.

One of the best textbooks on the Middle East! Cleveland is an excellent author and historian, would definitely recommend this book to those who are interested in learning about the ME.

This book is well researched, and presents a great balanced view of the middle east. A great read for anyone interested in learning the current and immediate past history of the area.

The best book on the history of Modern Middle East. A fantastic read.

Cleveland makes a great job in making such a though topic easy to understand. Cleverly written, it's both engaging and accurate.

GREAT READ! Initially bought it for a class, but ended up reading it for fun. It doesn't have the best sourcing but the information is surprisingly accurate.

Excellent read. Very informative but written in a way that makes it hard to put down. I will read it again for sure.