Rating: 
Summary: Graduate Level
Review: This book is an intellectual tour de force. In 387 pages, Bernard Lewis shows an encyclopedic command of Middle Eastern history and culture. All the more impressive when you consider that his bibliography and notes take up a total of just 9 - yes, nine - pages. But Lewis' command of the material is actually a drawback - it's sort of like a college lecture given by a renowned professor where you leave thinking, "It was impressive, but I really didn't get what he was talking about." Lewis often dives headfirst into the material, without providing context that might be helpful to the reader. Key terms appear without definition. In the middle of the book, Lewis breaks the historical flow for six "cross-sections" dealing with a particular aspect of society (e.g culture, economy) - some of which are almost impenetrable. (They really reminded me of college lectures.) There are some diamonds in the rough, though. The cross-section entitled "Religion and Law" begins with a concise comparison of the major religions, including details on Muslim practices. The book is not without merit as a reference or as "further reading". But its density is ultimately defeating if you are looking for "Middle East History 101".
Rating:
Summary: A Very General Overview, but not for Beginners
Review: This book is inconsistent in its analysis of 2,000 years of the history of the Middle East. Bernard Lewis, who is undisputeably one of the formost experts on the subject, makes a big deal in the opening pages of how this is a history of the Middle East that extends beyond the beginning of Islam. This makes it all the more disappointing that he disposes of the first 1,000 years of history in less than 100 pages.
The problem fundamentally is that much of this book is not a chronology of events or an analysis of the major personalities in Middle Eastern history. Instead, the vast majority of the work could easily have been entitles 'Bernard Lewis Explains it All.' This is not to say that Lewis is not someone with interesting theories on the subject; indeed, he may be uniquely qalified to do so. But because of the massive scope and small size of the text, a lot gets left out. For example, he attributes the fall of the Ottoman Empire in no small part to declining population, but doesn't explain why the population was falling (emigration? plague? war?).
However, much of what is analyzed in this book is not what is most important for understanding the contemporary Middle East. Lewis has an excellent chapter on the basic tenets of Islamic theology, but the rise of militant Islamic thought is all but ignored. There are some vague comments on Wahabbism in Saudi Arabia, but nothing on ibn al-Qutub or the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, both of which are key stories in the rise of Islamist terror in the late 20th and early 21st century.
Moreover, with the odd exception of the First World War, this is essentially not a blow-by-blow account of major historical events or personalities. As a result, in many cases Lewis refers to things (like the various attributes of architecure of palaces in Turkey) with which someone who studies Middle Eastern affairs will be familiar but a novice to the region will find confusing.
That said, for those with a good foundation in Middle Eastern history will find Lewis' analysis insightful and interesting, even if it is limited more to academic debates than understanding the Middle East as we now find it. The chapter on Islamic belief should be required reading for anyone with an interest in the subject, regardless of their prior exposure to Islamic theology. One is simply left to wonder how this book (first copyrighted in 1995) would have been written differently a decade later.
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of detail, but no personality
Review: This book left me cold. It has great detail of information, but I didn't learned much from it. Lewis goes out of his way to depersonalize the book. He often gives generalities, for example, about how brutal certain periods were, but then provides no details at all about what the brutality entailed. Usually, he dismisses problems in Islam history by simply stating that Christian regimes at the time were worse (believable, but the reader should expect to learn some details about what was happening at the time). The frustration is that Lewis never tells us what life was really like. Were women satisfied in everyday life? In the palace and on the farm? What really were the restrictions on them? How did people in Persia, Arabia, and other regions feel about Islam from 700 through 1800 AD? This book just does not give any personality to the dates and names. As a person with a typical Protestant upbringing who is trying to learn about Islam, this book did very little for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Good observation of Middle Eastern past and present.
Review: This is a general book about Middle Eastern history. It does not provide much detail or description of the numerous events that have shaped the region but it does offer many brilliant observations that give the reader a better insight and understanding of the development of Middle Eastern cultures. This book should be supplemented by a more concise account of historic events in order for the reader to better comprehend the evolution of the region. In conclusion I found the book very interesting and insightful and I enjoyed it very much.
Rating: 
Summary: Chronological study of the area and system.
Review: This is a relatively short work however is packed with fact and authors opinions based on his study. The book itself is a chonological history of the region which is quite comprehensive. I have studied the area myself in college and been to most of the countries, I agree with Lewis, however I can't seem to meet eye to eye on his views of the future of this turmoil filled religious part of the world. As long as there remains this strongly embedded religious difference, nothing will be in the makings towards peace.
A good book that offers a real solution to this that allows each sect to retain it's religion, Muslim, Jew, and Christian and live together in peace, covers the area well is SB 1 or God by Karl Mark Maddox.
Rating:
Summary: Nice try, but comes up short.
Review: This is an ambitious topic, but to try to do justice to it in one volume is an impossible task. I found the book big on generalizations and short on specifics and details.
Rating:
Summary: Nice try, but comes up short.
Review: This is an ambitious topic, but to try to do justice to it in one volume is an impossible task. I found the book big on generalizations and short on specifics and details.
Rating:
Summary: Not a good book for begining students of Middle East history
Review: This is the first book I've read from this author. I wanted to learn more about Middle East history and based my decision to start with this book on rave editorial reviews. After slogging through this book, I realized that many of the reviewers already have knowledge of the Middle East and experience with this author. Basically, Lewis tried to cram 2,000 years of Middle East history into 387 pages of medium print (not fine print). Like another customer reviewer said, I can't remember much historical detail and virtually nothing about the leaders of various periods. There was just too much history presented and not enough depth to make it stick. In addition, I struggled to form some cohesive "big picture" of the historical development of the Middle East and how that shaped current Middle East culture/religion. I can understand the historical perspective and cultural meaning of an event in European history by first establishing that the event occurred during the "dark ages," or the "renaissance," etc. This book did not help me develop that kind of perspective about Middle East history.
Rating:
Summary: Not a good book for begining students of Middle East history
Review: This is the first book I've read from this author. I wanted to learn more about Middle East history and based my decision to start with this book on rave editorial reviews. After slogging through this book, I realized that many of the reviewers already have knowledge of the Middle East and experience with this author. Basically, Lewis tried to cram 2,000 years of Middle East history into 387 pages of medium print (not fine print). Like another customer reviewer said, I can't remember much historical detail and virtually nothing about the leaders of various periods. There was just too much history presented and not enough depth to make it stick. In addition, I struggled to form some cohesive "big picture" of the historical development of the Middle East and how that shaped current Middle East culture/religion. I can understand the historical perspective and cultural meaning of an event in European history by first establishing that the event occurred during the "dark ages," or the "renaissance," etc. This book did not help me develop that kind of perspective about Middle East history.
Rating:
Summary: A very good brief review
Review: This truly is a brief history of the last 2,000 years in the middle east. I kept wishing for more information but then would have been facing a gigantic book. So this is what is promised, something that gives you the basics of what happend over the last 2,000 years. And that is a very good book to read first so that as you read of various periods in more detail, you can hang that onto this understanding of the entire time. As to the writing itself, it is good to very good.
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