I signed out this book because David Fromkin was listed as an author, and I have enjoyed reading other stuff of his. Then it turned out that this was a National Geographic compilation consisting of short pieces by numerous authors, so I thought the book would be pretty much a waste of time. Turns out that it is actually a very useful overview of what we call the Middle East, tracing from earliest days, Greeks, Romans, Byzantium, rise of Islam, Ottomans, through WWI carve-up (Fromkin’s piece), founding of Israel, etc. Maps are helpful.
It is remarkable that the religious fervor of three major religions, along with associated mayhem through the ages, came from this one area. The back of the book includes a chapter on each of the religions.
Short, readable, useful.
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