The Near East in History: A 5000 Year Story (Political, Social and Cultural Background of an Explosive Part of the World)

Richly complemented by 24 full page maps and more than 100 photographs. A five thousand year record of the Near East, from the dawn of civilization to the present cold war, is recounted in this authoritative book: a political, social, and cultural history of that part of the world which now includes Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Egypt and Arabia. This absorbing book tells the story of the peoples who set the stage for some of man's earliest and most spectacular achievements. They passed on to later generations a matchlessly rich heritage of science, art, literature and philosophy. They lifted man from barbarism, founded and bequeathed the three monotheistic religions, originated and disseminated the alphabet. In the modern world they occupy the strategic area linking Africa, Europe and Asia. Divided into six sections, The Near East in History begins with "The Preliterary Age" and continues through "Ancient Semitic Times", "The Greco-Roman Age"; "The Islamic Age"; "In Modern Times: Ottomans and Persians"; to the present, "The Arab States".