Comment

Wingnut Free Verse of the Day: "TOTAL FAKE"

215
b_sharp2/02/2013 3:36:37 pm PST

re: #207 CuriousLurker

OT (Attention political history geeks):

I just received a book I purchased earlier in the week called The Middle East and the United States: History, Politics, and Ideologies by David Lesch. I purposely purchased the 2nd edition (1999) because someone in the reviews said that the newer editions have sacrificed details about early developments in the ME to make room for new stuff (the most recent edition is the 5th, 2011).

Is anyone familiar with this book? It has good reviews and is on the reading list of many polysci professors. Anyway, just curious as it’s so damned hard to find books that treat the history of the ME with any kind of objectivity, and this one seems like it does. The author has also written a book on the Arab-Israeli conflict (2007), but I want to get a handle on the bigger post-WWI picture first.

The very first chapter, about the King-Crane Commission, was something I’d never heard of before, so I’ve learned something already. I’m only on page 14 and have already found this part more than a little depressing:

Ugh. *sigh*

Philosophy 101.