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Originally Posted by flytrap
I'm trying to educate myself on the history of the Middle East, especially the Palestine/Israel situation. What is the best book to read on this subject, hopefully one that is as non-biased as possible.
Edward Said, Bernard Lewis, Albert Hourani are all pretty unbiased and good. They are standard fair for degrees in IR and ME studies
My favorite books on the Middle east are by Robert Fisk. Not what I would call unbiased in terms of absolute political objectivity, but he is a very good journalist and tells what he sees fairly. "Pity the Nation" deals with Lebanon's civil war. "The Great War for Civilsation" deals with the history of ME conflict in the second half of the 20th centruy (except for the lebanese civil war)
Fisk is absolutely the best if you are looking for a good primer to understand the modern conflicts playing out n the region. The others above are for if you are actually looking for a comprehensive history (2000 year) of the region