One of the classic books on the Middle East is the New York Times's Thomas Friedman's
From Beirut to Jerusalem. Published in 1989, this book provides a solid introduction to the Middle East, even though it is outdated.
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION
FROM BEIRUT TO JERUSALEM: UPDATED WITH A NEW CHAPTER | THOMAS L.
In this context I will always remember Thomas Friedman's book,
From Beirut to Jerusalem. Friedman describes life in Beirut during the height of the Lebanese civil war when Beirut had become the poster child of the post-apocalyptic city.
From Beirut to Jerusalem won both the National Book Award and the Overseas Press Club Award in 1989 and was on the New York Times bestseller list for nearly twelve months.
Friedman was transferred
from Beirut to Jerusalem, where he served as Israel bureau chief until 1988.
Thus, as journalist Thomas Friedman wrote in his book "
From Beirut to Jerusalem," those who seek to challenge the Syrian regime should be prepared to play by "Hama Rules," which would prompt Damascus to neutralize the Islamists whenever they pose a threat to the regime's survival.
The Fate of Africa: From the Hopes of Freedom to the Heart of Despair, by Martin Meredith
From Beirut to Jerusalem, by Thomas L.
But it is also perhaps the best on-the-ground portrait since Thomas Friedman's
From Beirut to Jerusalem of the hatreds, passions, and illusions gripping the contemporary Middle East.
In his 1989 book
From Beirut to Jerusalem, which synthesized a decade's worth of reporting from the two capitals, Friedman used his metaphor-hunting skill to cut a bewilderingly complex region into digestible chunks.
From Beirut to Jerusalem and The Lexus and the Olive Tree, those books are really good.
A masterful book that is also riveting reading--Oren tells an extremely complicated story with the panache of a novelist--Six Days of War deserves a place alongside such classics of Middle East history as Thomas Friedman's
From Beirut to Jerusalem and David Fromkin's A Peace to End All Peace.
It turned out that he was reading
From Beirut to Jerusalem by Tom Friedman and coincidentally I was also right in the middle of reading the book.