A History of the Middle East 1.01

Reviewed by Lindsay Benstead, Professor of Politics & Global Affairs, Portland State University on 8/18/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This textbook provides a comprehensive overview of Middle East history, beginning with the age of the Prophet and ending with the immediate post-9-11 period. It is refreshing to see coverage of North Africa, which is often under-emphasized in textbooks on the Middle East (MENA) region.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The textbook is unbiased and accurate. Several canonical works from Middle East history are cited by the author.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Since the focus of the textbook is on history, it will remain relevant for some time to come. While it is true that the discussion ends with the early 2000s, this is not a concern for a history textbook.

Clarity rating: 5

The book is written with clear language that will be understandable to undergraduates.

Consistency rating: 5

The textbook is written in a highly consistent manner across the chapters, in part because it has a single author. However, it is dense and will likely benefit from complementary lectures, discussions, films, and other resources.

Modularity rating: 5

The chapters are clearly titled making it easy for faculty to assign single chapters within different courses, depending on the specific topics and time periods under study.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The chapters are organized chronologically, making the textbook easy to follow.

Interface rating: 4

The interface does not include internal links, but it is possible to navigate using Control F without problems. There are no URLs which could go stale.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The book is free from grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The book covers sensitive topics. It does so in an unbiased manner and draws on scholars from different perspectives and backgrounds.