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The Arabs: A History
by
Eugene Rogan
To American observers, the Arab world often seems little more than a distant battleground characterized by religious zealotry and political chaos. Years of tone-deaf US policies have left the region powerless to control its own destiny—playing into a longstanding sense of shame and impotence for a once-mighty people. In this definitive account, preeminent historian Eugene...more
Hardcover, 513 pages
Published
November 3rd 2009
by Basic Books
(first published 2009)
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كعادة الكتب الجميلة... كنتُ أقرأ هذا الكتاب على مهل كما لو كان ألفَ ليلةٍ وليلة. الفارق بينهما هو أن اللذة لم تكن خالصة، وما يخلفه الكتاب كلما أغلقته وتركته جانياً ليسَ شعور الخفة .. بل الألم والخيبة، وقليلٌ جداً من الأمل في بضع محطات منه.
أين يكمن الجمال فيه إذن؟ ولماذا النجمات الخمس ؟
الكتابُ ليس تاريخاً عن العرب، أو تحديداً ليسَ عن العرب كإثنيةٍ أو جماعةٍ ذات خصائص لغوية وثقافية معينة. بل عن الهوية العربية كما تكشلت خلال الحكم العثماني وتمايزت عنه لتؤلف - في ظروف الاستعمار - دولاً تسعى لاستقلال...more
أين يكمن الجمال فيه إذن؟ ولماذا النجمات الخمس ؟
الكتابُ ليس تاريخاً عن العرب، أو تحديداً ليسَ عن العرب كإثنيةٍ أو جماعةٍ ذات خصائص لغوية وثقافية معينة. بل عن الهوية العربية كما تكشلت خلال الحكم العثماني وتمايزت عنه لتؤلف - في ظروف الاستعمار - دولاً تسعى لاستقلال...more
To date, there have been very few popular histories covering either the Arab world, or the Middle East in particular, so Rogan's work fills an essential gap. The first thing that immediately strikes iboth the breadth and depth of the work, as the author takes us on a whistle-stop tour of 500 years of regional history, covering the Ottoman Empire's wide array of provinces from Egypt to Iraq, not neglecting Morocco, outside the historical borders during the period. The book is extremely readable,...more
Provided that you want to understand the historical background for the current political situation in the Middle East and Arab world, this book is a very good choice. I have read it following the Arab spring, as it has provided me with very valuable background information and source of questions. There has been several uprisings in Egypt. What makes this one different? Excluding Libya, the countries where we have witnessed revelutions are poor, agriculture economies with a lïmited military backi...more
Starting with the Ottoman's in the 16th Century, Rogan provides a fascinating perspective on Arab history all the way through today's events. This is not an economic or religious history -- it's a political history of a people that prior to reading this book I did not understand very well. As I moved through the decades and the centuries, I found myself getting more and more excited about what Rogan had to say about events since WWII and especially since the 1960's, many events and people I reme...more
It is pathetic, sad, and ultimately tragic that we've waited this long for a tome by a Westerner about the Arabs that dared to imagine history from their perspective, but then that's colonialism for you: the inability to comprehend the other side, to understand that what you're offering just may not be what they want. Chaotic as all the fighting and in-fighting in the Arab world may seem, this book clears all that up to where you understand the why behind every bomb exploded. You may not agree w...more
A biased, selective, and misleading history of the middle east conflict. He paints the Arab people as almost entirely victims of western domination and leaves them with hardly any responsibility for their own failings. One of the longest sections in the book dealt with the Israeli-Arab conflict omits the following enormously important facts:
1. While Rogan slams Israel for the "eviction" of Palestinians in 1948 (which in reality was Arab governments telling all Palestinians to leave because of th...more
1. While Rogan slams Israel for the "eviction" of Palestinians in 1948 (which in reality was Arab governments telling all Palestinians to leave because of th...more
The last few chapters of this were as gripping as any thriller. Damn, damn, damn, damn.
____________________________
I'm starting to get ads from the Australian government in Arabic popping up at the side of web pages. This one says "smoking stays in your future" (a very literal translation).
____________________________
I'm starting to get ads from the Australian government in Arabic popping up at the side of web pages. This one says "smoking stays in your future" (a very literal translation).
This is a very good book with a very good overview of the Arab world over the last 500 or so years. It covers what the author calls the Modern Era of the Arab world, where Arabs had to contend with outside powers.
I noticed one mistake. An end note in the chapter on Britain and the treaties Britain signed with certain Arab powers might be on the wrong sentence. The end note refers to Britain signing treaties similar to the one Britain signed with Bahrain with other Arab powers. However, the end n...more
I noticed one mistake. An end note in the chapter on Britain and the treaties Britain signed with certain Arab powers might be on the wrong sentence. The end note refers to Britain signing treaties similar to the one Britain signed with Bahrain with other Arab powers. However, the end n...more
With the Middle East being a pivotal point in the world scene, I felt quite ignorant of what is going on there. I had a basic grasp of what the situation, but still lacked a true understanding. Sure, Israelis want to create a Jewish state in the Middle East and the Palestinians disagree. However, why was there a fifteen year war in neighboring Lebanon? Why were both the Syrian and Israeli armed forces directly involved?
After reading this book, I feel much more confident about understanding the m...more
After reading this book, I feel much more confident about understanding the m...more
This book is one of the most scholarly and well researched modern histories I have read. The principle fault was that the material was a bit disorganized, and while it is described as a history of the Arabs, it is the more recent history which is the main emphasis. Rogan is not kind to any of the parties and clearly has taken a truly objective view of the protagonists, as they appear to have spent most of their time either fighting or making up. The book is most up to date and shines real light...more
A fascinating overview of the last 500 odd years of Arab history.
This book attempts to concisely explain the background to the current situation in the middle east, it succeeds very well in doing so with much reference to Arabic sources.
I found it had a perfect balance the narrative and raw data which kept me reading (and absorbing) avidly throughout.
Each chapter had a summary that was useful without being patronising and I found them enormously helpful.
All in all the only things I didn't like a...more
This book attempts to concisely explain the background to the current situation in the middle east, it succeeds very well in doing so with much reference to Arabic sources.
I found it had a perfect balance the narrative and raw data which kept me reading (and absorbing) avidly throughout.
Each chapter had a summary that was useful without being patronising and I found them enormously helpful.
All in all the only things I didn't like a...more
This book reviews the political history of Arab lands since 1517, the year the Ottoman Empire conquered the Mamluks in Egypt, through the 9/11 attacks to current political events in the Arab world. Bob enjoyed how the author inserted the biographies of prominent Arabs into historical events. Rogan provides the most detailed and extensive accounts of the Arab history of the past four hundred years and explains the problems but does not provide answers or solutions.
A comprehensive and gripping story of the Arab world is unfolded to you in an unbiased manner. The pace of the events depicted, the simplicity of explanation of a complicated history, the pains and the glory of Arabs is something I have found only in this book amongst the many I have read. The lessons about the recent mistakes and lack of unity amongst Arabs is something which the current generation should ensure that they overcome it
There is so much to absorb in Eugene Rogan's historical account of The Arabs that I would certainly need to read it several more times before feeling like I could do a proper review. Throughout the 500 pages of this book, Rogan does a masterful job of bringing forth the people and events that shaped the Arab world. Just as in any account of history, the leading themes are war, imperialism, the quest for power, religious conflict, brutality, and oppression. While it would be easy to turn away fro...more
To American observers, the Arab world often seems little more than a distant battleground characterized by religious zealotry and political chaos. Years of tone-deaf US policies have left the region powerless to control its own destiny—playing into a longstanding sense of shame and impotence for a once-mighty people. In this definitive account, preeminent historian Eugene Rogan traces five centuries of Arab history, from the Ottoman conquests through the British and French colonial periods and u...more
Rogan does a decent job of researching and presenting the history of the British and French mandates; a part of Arab history that always fascinated me. This book also reveals that the roots of most of the modern Middle Eastern countries' problems are often tied to the arbitrary border drawing that the French and the British imposed upon the local peoples along with their imperial hubris.
OK - one thing that I have learned - there´s much more to history than the European version and we really like to forget that. This one was an eye-opener for me and it brought lots of details that I had never heard about or knew only half of. It doesn´t solve anything but it certainly gives you a new insight.
Excellent, accessible history of the Arab people from pre-Ottomon conquest days through the invasion of Iraq by GWB. Helps illuminate the history driving the complexities of inter-state relations in the middle east as well as arab-israli relations. I found it most helpful, from a modern day perspective, in understanding Egypt, Syria and Lebanon.
extremely timely and instantly out of date, this is a great book to read right now. very digestible, with plenty of enjoyable or eye-opening detail, generally avoiding the trap of painting a view too thickly or colouring a character too uniformly (OK, Saddam Hussein was not likely to get a sympathetic write-up, even in a book that comes from the Arab perspective)
my only criticism is that, although 500 pages thick, with notes adding another 50, the book actually comes over as too thin - the histo...more
my only criticism is that, although 500 pages thick, with notes adding another 50, the book actually comes over as too thin - the histo...more
Erg boeiende beschrijving van de geschiedenis van de Arabische wereld (van Marokko tot Iraq & van 1500-2009) veelal citerend uit Arabisch bronnenmateriaal. Zeer leesbaar doorspekt met boeiende anecdotes & citaten. Leest zoals een universiteitscursus over dit onderwerp zou moeten zijn.
An extensive history of the Arab people starting under Turkish rule and reaching to the election of Barack Obama - it's also quite depressing. I thoroughly appreciated its scope. It can be a bit dry because it lacks a lot of personal narrative. Rogan signs off with a vaguely hopeful message, but it's hard to fault him after this depressing catalog of cyclical subjugation, manipulation, and atrocity in Arab lands. It's difficult to find figures with moral authority to move forward and beyond past...more
A very readable history of the Arabs from the Ottoman empire to present day. Although the British and French empire sections were a little slower, I raced through the first and last one hundred pages. Made me re-evaluate some of the facts I thought I was sure of.
Before reading 'The Arabs' I thought it might be another classy book (and classical view) of the arab people. But this book soared beyond my expectations. It is the arab identity that base the essential topics and unlike other books about Middle East this explains the developments of the arab mind throughout a whole century (from the Ottoman conquest to the making of islamic movements). I can't utter any critical word against this book. Read it, people!
An entertaining narrative, but with lots of omissions and strange decisions. Very much a "palace history" focused on political machinations rather than average Arab lives. Overall, an okay outline of the topic that leaves much to be desired.
Written just before the "Arab Awakening" of 2011, this book nevertheless puts all of today's events in context. The history of the Arabs is one of disappointment, heartbreak, tragedy and blood with a few isolated glimmers of hope and progress
-La decepción genera desconfianza y la tendencia a creer cualquier promesa. Ya ha ocurrido otras veces. Y lo que más une siempre es un enemigo común-.
Género. Historia.
Lo que nos cuenta. Historia política (con algo de social) de los pueblos y naciones árabes, desde menos de un siglo después del fin de la Edad Media, cuando comienza la influencia y el control desde el exterior, hasta el 11 de septiembre de 2001. En sucesivas ediciones se han añadido al epílogo, que originalmente se extendía hasta...more
Género. Historia.
Lo que nos cuenta. Historia política (con algo de social) de los pueblos y naciones árabes, desde menos de un siglo después del fin de la Edad Media, cuando comienza la influencia y el control desde el exterior, hasta el 11 de septiembre de 2001. En sucesivas ediciones se han añadido al epílogo, que originalmente se extendía hasta...more
A compelling read, but really should be titled "The Arabs: A history about people who occupied them". I know the perspectives of the Ottoman and Westerners in the Middle East. I wanted to read more on the Arabs.
Efficient summary of relevant Middle Eastern history which is more useful than Hourani's more famous book. Rogan uses Arab sources almost exclusively and this helps this book greatly.
من اجمل ما قراتز الكتاب يتناول الفتره من بدايه الخلافه تلعثمانيه حتي الوقت المعاصر كما يتناول صراع القوه وصولا الي القوميه العربيهز الترجمه جيده
This book is an incredibly interesting read. For a newcomer to Middle Eastern history, I was amazed by how much of world history comes back to the events that have taken place in the Middle East over current and past decades. Rogan is a very good storyteller and has found a very good way to present very interesting subject matter.
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Jun 03, 2012 01:12pm
Jan 24, 2013 10:25am