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The Near East: A Cultural History
This ambitious and wide-ranging popular history is the first narrative account of the entire Near East (Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States), from the genesis of civilization in the fourth millennium BCE until modern times. It provides an historical outline of the civilizations and cultures that dominated the region, one that has had an immense impact on the development of humankind, ever since the ancient Sumerians invented urban living and writing around 3200 BCE. Later, the Babylonians and the Assyrians built upon the Sumerian legacy. They were the world's earliest great powers, whose actions in the cradle of monotheism influenced Judaism and, eventually, Christianity and Islam. The Near East discusses the long eras of Arab, Persian and Ottoman rule, and the destabilizing intervention of Western colonial powers. Cotterell's book is a timely reminder of how historical events have shaped the outlooks of various peoples, just as
political turbulence in the Near East is challenging both neighboring countries and the wider world.
political turbulence in the Near East is challenging both neighboring countries and the wider world.
- GenresHistory
288 pages, Hardcover
Published August 15, 2017
16 people want to read
About the author
Arthur Cotterell
99 books37 followersArthur Cotterell, former Principal of Kingston College in London, has spent many years combining senior educational management with historical research. He is the respected author of more than thirty books, and is now writing on the Chinese empire, from the history of which he considers one can learn as much about leadership as from Ashridge or Harvard.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 8, 2017
Typically a reader of Classical academia I desired to learn more about the great empires of the middle east that were themselves so ancient even by the time Greece and Rome dominated the Mediterranean world. I am glad to say that Cotterells book quenched my thirst.
Though covering a period of about 5000 years, 'The Near East' is a very good introduction to the world, history, and cultures of the middle east, from the founding of the first city at Ur to the present day. Though naturally limited by the scope of the period covered, I still felt I came away with a good standard of knowledge of the first cities of Mesopotamia, and the civilisations of the Assyrians, Hittites, Babylonians, and Persians, as well as their relationship to their surrounding world.
Of great interest was the final section detailing the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the formation of the modern middle east. Though the smallest section of the book, the author does his best to give some political, historical, and cultural information on each of the present day states in the Near East, as well as the underlined causes of present day issues there.
some draw back were the short length which prohibited the authors ability to give more information, especially with regard to the modern period and a lack of a proper discussion on the Sassanian Period (cAD240-626). The short length of the book and the speed with which it covers the different periods leaves the reader at times exhausted by dates, names and places which can at times overlap.
Otherwise the work remains true to the authors wishes to produce a work for the intrigued general reader, and certainly leaves you with a good overview of the near east past and present.
Though covering a period of about 5000 years, 'The Near East' is a very good introduction to the world, history, and cultures of the middle east, from the founding of the first city at Ur to the present day. Though naturally limited by the scope of the period covered, I still felt I came away with a good standard of knowledge of the first cities of Mesopotamia, and the civilisations of the Assyrians, Hittites, Babylonians, and Persians, as well as their relationship to their surrounding world.
Of great interest was the final section detailing the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the formation of the modern middle east. Though the smallest section of the book, the author does his best to give some political, historical, and cultural information on each of the present day states in the Near East, as well as the underlined causes of present day issues there.
some draw back were the short length which prohibited the authors ability to give more information, especially with regard to the modern period and a lack of a proper discussion on the Sassanian Period (cAD240-626). The short length of the book and the speed with which it covers the different periods leaves the reader at times exhausted by dates, names and places which can at times overlap.
Otherwise the work remains true to the authors wishes to produce a work for the intrigued general reader, and certainly leaves you with a good overview of the near east past and present.
January 27, 2026
A frankly confusing and unfocused read.
Arthur Cotterell portrays this book as a comprehensive overview of the Near East, and though this work does give that lens, it is a clumsy, awkward, and ineffective attempt at such. Although presenting itself as a “cultural history,” *The Near East* fails to provide many salient details on cultural development, focusing instead on political history. There are some good details in the beginning, particularly on the early days of Sumer and Babylon, but as it progresses onwards, the work truly feels bad to read.
A lot can be said about its flaws. Some sections feel ahistorical and far too generalized. Discussions of the modern Middle East fall to stereotyping and a lack of critical detail necessary for such work. Within sections and even paragraphs, there is a very lacking sense of cohesion. Some sentences focus on one topic, such as the fall of Constantinople, but then the very next sentence might shift the focus to an event from several centuries before. Then it may shift forward, talking about some tangentially related figure but not about the main point.
There are also noticeable omissions. The entire section on the Byzantine Empire has little to say about Basil II or the Komnenian Revolution. The modern Middle East chapters do NOT mention the Arab-Israeli wars in great detail and do NOT have a single line about the impacts of 9/11 on the region. There is little analysis, and the book just seems to end mid-point, literally after an ominous sentence about the politics of Oman.
Cotterell’s *The Near East: A Cultural History* fails as a general history because it is both too simplistic in what it presents and yet assumes the reader already has some baseline knowledge of the region. It fails as a cultural history for its lack of any reflection on cultural change through time. It fails as a book in general due to its outright poor organization, unfocused writing, and lack of consistency.
Arthur Cotterell portrays this book as a comprehensive overview of the Near East, and though this work does give that lens, it is a clumsy, awkward, and ineffective attempt at such. Although presenting itself as a “cultural history,” *The Near East* fails to provide many salient details on cultural development, focusing instead on political history. There are some good details in the beginning, particularly on the early days of Sumer and Babylon, but as it progresses onwards, the work truly feels bad to read.
A lot can be said about its flaws. Some sections feel ahistorical and far too generalized. Discussions of the modern Middle East fall to stereotyping and a lack of critical detail necessary for such work. Within sections and even paragraphs, there is a very lacking sense of cohesion. Some sentences focus on one topic, such as the fall of Constantinople, but then the very next sentence might shift the focus to an event from several centuries before. Then it may shift forward, talking about some tangentially related figure but not about the main point.
There are also noticeable omissions. The entire section on the Byzantine Empire has little to say about Basil II or the Komnenian Revolution. The modern Middle East chapters do NOT mention the Arab-Israeli wars in great detail and do NOT have a single line about the impacts of 9/11 on the region. There is little analysis, and the book just seems to end mid-point, literally after an ominous sentence about the politics of Oman.
Cotterell’s *The Near East: A Cultural History* fails as a general history because it is both too simplistic in what it presents and yet assumes the reader already has some baseline knowledge of the region. It fails as a cultural history for its lack of any reflection on cultural change through time. It fails as a book in general due to its outright poor organization, unfocused writing, and lack of consistency.
November 8, 2018
2.5 stars. The parts of the book covering the ancient and medieval Near East were good, but once it got to modern times inaccuracies began creeping in, and big whoppers of errors started popping up, to the extent that I don't trust the initial parts that I thought were decent. Typos and misspellings riddle the whole book, and not just spelling certain words wrong, but sometimes the same word is spelled right in one spot and wrong a few lines below. You would think that a half way decent editor would have caught three issues before printing what appears to be an expensive hardcover book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews