Books on Middle East

Blood of the Earth

The Battle for the World's Vanishing Oil Resources

By Dilip Hiro

Crimes of War: Iraq

By Richard Falk, Irene Gendzier and Robert Jay Lifton

From the same editorial team whose 1971 Crimes of War became one of the definitive Vietnam-era accounts of American war crimes comes this penetrating inquiry into the legal, historical, and psychological dimensions of the war in Iraq.

Inside the Resistance

The Iraqi Insurgency and the Future of the Middle East

By Zaki Chehab

While most Western journalists report from Iraq either from the safety of their hotel rooms or embedded with the US military, Zaki Chehab goes into the Sunni Triangle and other danger zones. The result is the first authoritative portrait of the insurgency in all its complexity.

Herzl's Nightmare

One Land, Two Peoples

By Peter Rodgers

Theodor Herzl's dream of a national homeland for the Jewish people was realized when Israel declared its independence in 1948. Yet it was made possible only through the deaths of millions of European Jews and at the expense of Palestinian society--a people who would never forget what they saw as a grave injustice. Herzl's dream would prove illusory.

The Truth About Camp David

The Untold Story About the Collapse of the Middle East Peace Process

By Clayton E. Swisher

"Clayton E. Swisher is the first to research the mistakes and miscalculations made by the Clinton administration that led to the collapse of the Israeli-Syrian and Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Any future mediator will have to read this account before the start of any final-status negotiations." --Charles Enderlin, author of Shattered Dreams.

Freedom Next Time

Resisting the Empire

By John Pilger

Inside Hamas

The Untold Story of the Militant Islamic Movement

By Zaki Chehab

What is the real nature of Hamas? Since their astounding victory in the 2006 Palestinian elections--and following Hamas's takeover of Gaza--this has become a hotly contested question in the Middle East.

On May 21, Zaki Chehab appeared on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." Watch here.

Lost Years

Bush, Sharon, and Failure in the Middle East

By Mark Matthews

Lords of the Land

The War for Israel's Settlements in the Occupied Territories, 1967-2007

By Idith Zertal, PhD and Akiva Eldar

Read other reviews on Truthdig and Ha'aretz.

The Man Who Pushed America to War

The Extraordinary Life, Adventures and Obsessions of Ahmad Chalabi

By Aram Roston

Read an adaptation of the book.

Read a review in Congressional Quarterly.

Read more about Aram Roston and check out his website.

Blackwater (paperback)

The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army

By Jeremy Scahill

On September 16, 2007, Blackwater Worldwide mercenaries opened fire in Baghdad's Nisour Square, killing 17 Iraqi civilians, among them women and children. In this fully revised and updated paperback, award-winning investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill reveals the explosive story of the company that has become the new face of the U.S. war machine.

Jeremy Scahill recently won the prestigious 2007 George Polk Book Award.

Collateral Damage

America's War Against Iraqi Civilians

By Laila Al-Arian and Chris Hedges

In this devastating exposé, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges and journalist Laila Al-Arian reveal the terrifying reality of daily civilian life in Iraq at the hands of U.S. troops. Collateral Damage is based on hundreds of hours of interviews with combat veterans who explain the tactics and operations that have turned many Iraqis against the U.S. military.

Michael Schwartz wrote on The Huffington Post that the book "offers the best account so far of what Hedges calls the 'vast enterprise of industrial slaughter unleashed in Iraq,' and its impact on the troops who are trained and ordered to administer it."

The Age of the Warrior

Selected Essays

By Robert Fisk

"Robert Fisk is one of the outstanding reporters of this generation. As a war correspondent he is unrivalled."
—Financial Times

Backstabbing for Beginners

My Crash Course in International Diplomacy

By Michael Soussan

The Wall Street Journal listed Backstabbing for Beginners as one of the 12 best books of 2008.

Halliburton's Army

How a Well-Connected Texas Oil Company Revolutionized the Way America Makes War

By Pratap Chatterjee

Watch Pratap Chatterjee discuss Halliburton's Army on Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman.

A World I Loved

The Story of an Arab Woman

By Wadad Makdisi Cortas

Collateral Damage (paperback)

America's War Against Iraqi Civilians

By Laila Al-Arian and Chris Hedges

In this devastating exposé, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges and journalist Laila Al-Arian reveal the terrifying reality of daily civilian life in Iraq at the hands of U.S. troops. Collateral Damage is based on hundreds of hours of interviews with combat veterans who explain the tactics and operations that have turned many Iraqis against the U.S. military.

Halliburton's Army (paperback)

How a Well-Connected Texas Oil Company Revolutionized the Way America Makes War

By Pratap Chatterjee

"A sordid tale of politics and profiteering... A report that deserves many readers, about matters that deserve many indictments."
—Kirkus

Beware of Small States

Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East

By David Hirst

In this magisterial history of Lebanon, from the end of the Ottoman rule to the Hizbullah and Hamas wars of today, David Hirst, the acclaimed and fiercely independent Middle East journalist and historian, charts with extraordinary skill and lucidity the intricate interplay between Lebanon and its geopolitical environment. This is also a history of the whole Middle East and above all, of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

"A brilliant analytical mind."
—Robert Fisk

Newsweek reviewed Hirst's book in the "We Read it so You Don't Have to" section of their magazine.

Aftermath

Following the Bloodshed of America's Wars in the Muslim World

By Nir Rosen

Nir Rosen's Aftermath is an extraordinary feat of reporting that follows the contagious spread of radicalism and sectarian violence that the invasion of Iraq and the ensuing civil war have unleashed in the Middle East. Taking us from Iraq to Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon and finally Afghanistan, acclaimed journalist Rosen goes to the alleys, deserts, refugee camps, mosques, and battlefields of the post-invasion Muslim world to show how the American military has influenced Iraq and Afghanistan and how it has been influenced by its new theater of operations. Aftermath is an unsparing account of what America has wrought in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Brilliantly reported and deeply humane."
—Andrew Bacevich, author of Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War