Book Club - Part 1a

written by Cindy but compiled by Jeff

OK - so you may have read our last post about the books that we're reading for our book club on campus this fall. If you would like some additional book recommendations, we're providing a list below. Now we won't be reading these in our book club, but either Jeff or I have read all of these and we think they're excellent sources of information on the Middle East. Whether you like history, fiction or politics, I think we have a book for you:

• From Beirut to Jerusalem, Thomas Friedman - a good overview of Middle East politics including the creation of the state of Israel, the PLO, Hezbollah, the Lebanese civil war, and the Intifada. If you haven't read much about the Middle East, this is a good place to start.

• City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism, Jim Krane – a fast-paced, thoughly-researched history of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. A great book if you just want to know about where we are and want to know how Dubai became a modern boomtown.
  


• Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson – story of a US citizen who traveled in Afghanistan and Pakistan and has begun to build schools in the region. A great read with a compelling story line about providing education to kids who live in remote and underdeveloped areas.

• War for Muslim Minds, Giles Kepel – Covers the roots of radical Islam, the development of the neoconservative political agenda in the US, and responses to Islam by the US since 9/11. Also another reasonable starting point if you haven't done a lot of reading on the Middle East.


• The Accidental Guerrilla, David Kilcullen - Good discussion of modern counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency military strategy. Author is an Australian who advised the US State Department. This reads like a graduate-level book on counter-terrorism. Excellent, but not a light read. If you don't like to listen to or watch the news, this one's not for you.


• Arabian Nights - is a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is also known as One Thousand and One Nights. Obviously, this one is fiction (as opposed to the others on the list). It's a classic - you need to have this on your bookshelf (and have read it). Well, at least the abridged version.
  


• Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Ali is the Somali-born member of the Dutch parliament who faced death threats after collaborating on a film about domestic violence against Muslim women.


• World is Flat, Thomas Friedman - an international best selling book that analyzes globalization. Not specifically about the Middle East, but just a good book that will help you (assuming you're an American) see how business is becoming more global - and why that's both good and unavoidable.
  

If you have any additional books you think we might want to look at, let us know. Or, if you have any you want us to read and offer our perspective, we can try to do that as well (but we make no promises on how soon we will get it read)!