It's a shame that Diodorus Siculus isn't as well known to the reading public as Herodotus or Thucydides, for his compendius Library of History, of which this is a translation of volume II (on Assyria, Scythia, India, Arabia, and other ancient Asiatic kingdoms). Diodorus is the only ancient historian, for example, who has his facts straight about the fall of the Assyrian Empire. This is a great translation, long over due, and belongs in the library of all who are interested in ancient History. The notes alone are worth the price of the book, and the plates are keyed to the text to make it come alive

Anna Kerttula was the first American anthropologist to conduct long-term fieldwork in Chukotka, which is located in eastern Russia just across the Bering Strait from Alaska. She comes from a background that gives her a unique and very valuable perspective on Chukotka: she was raised in a rural Alaskan family, and visited many Alaskan Inuit and Yup'ik villages as a child. All that time, she was acutely aware of the presence of Chukotka and its Native villages just out of reach beyond what was dubbed the "ice curtain" between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. She dreamed of going there, and was finally able to do so as a graduate student in anthropology. In the Soviet period, because Chukotka was so close to the United States, it was a carefully-guarded closed region -- even Russians had to have special permission to travel there. Kerttula began her fieldwork in the village of Sireniki on Chukotka's coast in 1989, two years before the collapse of the Soviet Union, so she had the rare opportunity to experience life there before the drastic changes that came in the 1990s. She describes for us many different aspects of the lives of the Yup'iks, Chukchis, and Russian "Newcomers" who live in this village -- their occupations of reindeer herding and sea mammal hunting for the Soviet collective farm in the village; their ideas about social relationships, marriage and family, etc.; the symbolic importance of the tundra and the sea. It is a fascinating glimpse of daily life on the eve of the Soviet Union's demise. This is an excellent introduction for anyone interested in the Russian Arctic (a.k.a. Siberia)-- it is well-written, accessible, and full of fascintating profiles of the inhabitants of this small village. Lots of good black and white photos, too.

This is one of the earlier Dalziel/Pascoe books and is devoted largely to Andy Dalziel's exploits while he is "on holiday" at the same time Peter and Ellie Pascoe are on their honeymoon. Reginald Hill's series does an excellent job both in plotting and in character development, and if you are intrigued by Fat Andy, then you really need to read this to see a side of his character you may not have seen before.

For those interested in researching the military aspect of the Arab-Israeli conflict, finding information about the militaries of the Arab nations is very difficult. What little that is published is either published in the Arabic language or is so highly suspect (propaganda) that it is of negligible factual value. That's one of the factors that makes Charles Stafrace's book "Arab Air Forces" so uniquely valuable. It is not only written in the English language, but Mr. Stafrace has kept his political viewpoint to a minimum making it tremendously easier to read than comparable resources in Arabic or translated from Arabic.

The book itself is grouped to give short concise histories of the air arms of various Arab nations as well as speculative numbers and types of aircraft used during Arab Air Forces' histories. The book was published in 1994 so don't expect information any more current than 1994 (However, this does include Desert Storm). I emphasize that the histories are short (typically four to six pages for most Arab air forces and less for smaller air arms) so don't expect very many details. What information is available appears to be mired in fact rather than guesswork. Mr. Stafrace hasn't referenced or footnoted his work in any way whatsoever. There is no bibliography either. I would assume his information comes from public media sources although there's no way to be sure short of contacting Mr. Stafrace.

I imagine that the reference would be of most use to plastic kit modelers although I found it tremendously useful as someone who studies the Arab-Israeli conflict. I personally bought the text as a reference before painting some models of Arab aircraft. In that respect, this book has been very useful.

Histories and details of the following Arab Air Forces are included: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen (Current nation comprised of both South and North Yemen), Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen), and Peoples Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen).

Perhaps the book's most attractive selling point are the numerous color and photo plates as well as the generous number of black and white photos interspersed throughout the text. Photos of Arab aircraft that aren't from a gun reticule are hard to come by and Mr. Stafrace has provided plenty of quality photographs in his book.

My biggest criticism of the book comes from the passages in which Mr. Stafrace has injected his political opinion. It is clear that he is, at the very least, moderately pro-Arab in his political thought. The chapter detailing the Egyptian Air Force shows a clear bias against the Israelis. The chapter about the Iraqis also shows a bias against the Iranians. I recommend consulting other books for better information about aerial combat between the Egyptians and Israelis or between the Iranians and the Iraqis.

I highly recommend "Arab Air Forces" for those who desire to learn more about the Arab air forces.

Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan

The Arab Awakening is the seminal work on the formation of the modern Arab States and the betrayals of the Western Powers following WWI that has largely caused the attitudes of the Arabs toward the West that survives to this day.

It takes the reader from the beginnings of the new Arab literary and philosophical rennaissance in the late 1800's, through WWI where the Arabs fought on the side of the West against the Ottomans, to the betrayals that immediately followed the Great War: the division of the Ottoman Empire among the Western Powers, the Mandate systems, Sykes-Picot, the Balfour Declaration, just to name a few.

For anyone wishing to know the real antecedents to todays Middle East issues, they go back considerably further than the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. This book is a must for any serious Middle East scholar.

This classic masterpiece deserved reprinted more than anything else and it is done with an excellent expansion, especially on narrated accounts of travellers and geographers of the time. Inside you'll find an interesting correlation proposed between Islamic trading activities and their mastery of the Indian Ocean, its height and downfall until the 1000 AD. Buy it, especially if you're an Indonesian Muslim.

Though its intended audience is "young adult", even for adults this book serves as an excellent and balanced introduction to the difficult and complex events which have filled the 20th century in Israel/Palestine. Photos, maps, and a coherent narrative make this a must-read for anyone trying to grasp the roots of the current conflict, especially for those just beginning to go beyond the headlines to attempt a fuller understanding of the region and its peoples.
I rated it "five stars" for its conciseness, completeness, and even-handedness. Note that it was designed for classroom use, is only 64 pages, but nonetheless is packed with information.

This scholarly study by Elie Podeh of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem analyses Israeli history textbooks’ presentations of the Arab-Israeli conflict and their depiction of Arab people. He contends that, “biased Israeli and Arab textbooks have fostered and maintained a kind of silent conflict between the parties. ... my hope is that better textbooks - free of bias, prejudice, inaccuracies, and omissions - on both sides of the conflict will result in a better atmosphere, congenial to the successful consummation of peaceful relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors.”

His Chapter 1 presents a rationale for studying school textbooks. Chapter 2 investigates the changing attitudes in Israel’s education system towards teaching the Arab-Israeli conflict. Chapter 3 presents case studies of textbook coverage of various subjects and historical periods: Islam, the Ottoman Empire, the first and second Aliyah periods (1882-1902 and 1902-14), the First World War agreements, the British mandate in Palestine (1920-48), the 1947-48 war, the 1956 war, the 1967 war, the post-1967 period and the Arab minority in Israel. He notes that even text books published in 1999 printed maps of late 19th-century Palestine that omitted all the many towns inhabited by Arabs!

The book charts Israeli educationalists’ growing awareness that Zionist ideology distorts the history of Israel and of its relations with its neighbours. The 1967 war, Israel’s war against Lebanon in 1982, the Palestinian Intifada of 1988 and the peace process of the 1990s, all forced many Israelis to view the Arab-Israeli conflict more even-handedly and improved the quality of the textbooks. The newer textbooks present more self-critical accounts, instead of projecting all evil onto Arab people, and allow that self-criticism is a source of strength not a sign of weakness.

Similar studies in other countries have shown that textbooks of Empire demonise and distort colonised nations and their liberation movements, that US textbooks demonise communism, and that Irish textbooks demonise the other guy’s religion.

Hopefully, this fine book will achieve the author’s aim of assisting the development of peaceful relations between Israel and its neighbours.

This is becoming out of date (1980), yet it's still the best book I've seen on the modern political history of the Arabian Peninsula. The 500-plus pages cover such topics as the British departure from Aden (Yemen) and the Trucial Coast (now UAE), Oman's civil war in Dhufar, Saudi-UAE border disputes, OPEC in the 70s, and an overview of the current political situation in the various countries. Iran and Iraq also receive substantial coverage, but the greatest emphasis is on Saudi Arabia and the minor Gulf states. There are five maps. Although much has happened since the book was written -- namely the Gulf War -- this remains the classic introduction to the region's politics for the serious reader.