Bibliography - Islam and the Middle East

Readers have asked me for a bibliography to help better understand Islam and the Middle East. Here are some English-language suggestions – many of them reviewed or discussed elsewhere on this site – starting with the background books and proceeding to the contemporary onessues:

A. J. Arberry, The Koran Interpreted: A Translation (London: Oxford University Press, 1964).
The translation I rely on - done by an accomplished orientalist just in time, before Middle East studies went south.

Michael Cook, The Koran: A Very Short Introduction
Very short, very interesting, very reliable, and very instructive.

Khalid Durán with Abdelwahab Hechiche, Children of Abraham: An Introduction to Islam for Jews
Despite its name, a survey of Islam appropriate for readers of all faiths, by a committed and moderate Muslim.

Bernard Lewis, The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years
A survey of Middle Eastern history by the person who knows more about the region - and can explain it better - than anyone else.

Marshall G. S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization (3 vols.)
A deep history of Islam and of its role in the public sphere.

David Cook, Understanding Jihad
A well-documented, convincing survey of how much the concept of jihad (which Cook defines as "warfare with spiritual significance") has evolved over fourteen centuries.

Efraim Karsh: Islamic Imperialism: A History
Karsh argues for the existence of an Islamic imperial drive and traces it from Muhammad's time to current Islamist aggressions.

Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Islam in Modern History
An masterful interpretation of the travails Muslims have experienced over the past two centuries.

Efraim Karsh and Inari Karsh, Empires of the Sand: The Struggle for Mastery in the Middle East, 1789-1923
A brilliant reassessment of the nineteenth-century Middle East, showing how, contrary to the usual assumptions, the people of that region actively shaped their own destiny.

V. S. Naipaul, Among the Believers
A journey to four Muslim countries and some lively discussions about the nature and future of Islam.

Emmanuel Sivan, Radical Islam
One of the first and still one of the best analyses of this subject.

Johannes J. G. Jansen, The Dual Nature of Islamic Fundamentalism
A densely reasoned, brave attempt to explain militant Islam.

Bassam Tibi, The Challenge of Fundamentalism: Political Islam and the New World Disorder
An even more densely written interpretation of militant Islam, but worth the effort.

David Pryce-Jones, The Closed Circle
Perhaps the single most informative book on the cruel nature of contemporary Middle East politics.

Bat Ye'or, Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations Collide
Ambitious and consequential analysis of Muslim relations with non-Muslims.

Ann Elizabeth Mayer, Islam and Human Rights: Traditions and Politics
An understated and powerful repudiation of the notion of "Islamic human rights."

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