Customer Reviews

The Arabs: Journey Beyond the Mirage

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I always feel akward in trying to review or analyze books on the middle east. While I try to 'understand' middle eastern politics, societies and history, I know that i will never be able to actually understand it. And while i am well-read and have an M.A. in political studies, I have never felt much familiarity, despite my effotrs, on middle eastern politics.

Mr. Lamb quickly tells me why this might be, as if i didn't already sort-of know, in his introduction. That is that the difference between the West and the Middle East's lifestyle is just night and day. Individual autonomy is king here; group cohesiveness is king there. Secularism is just an accepted thing here; it is often unthinkable there. We are so comfortable with democracy and all that comes with it here; it is still quite new and alien there. None of these are meant to suggest Western superiority; just to illustrate that if one is Western (unless one has a middle eastern ancestry, perhaps), one will never really be able to enter the mindset of the Middle East.

For all that, though, Mr. Lamb gives a good try and in light of what I said, that seems all that can be expected. He is a Westerner and, as another reviewer derogatorily stated, a Western Patriot. He sees things from a Western perspective and is the first to admit that as such, he never was quite able to shed the 'western eyes.' But he gave it a good go, and in that, the book deserves all the four stars I've given it.

This book was written well before Sept. 11th, which is refreshing. It is not a polemical tract; nor is it a scholarly work of history or political theory. While the book is not 'unbiased' in any sense that Mr. Lamb does not have a definitely American vantage point, it is 'unbiased' in the sense that Mr. Lamb refrains from taking too many sides or making many polemical arguments.

Rather, it is a work of journalism - the tales of Mr. Lamb's four years in the Middle East. He goes through the variou religious, political, social, and historical climates and backdrops that are (or at least to him, are) the Middle East. From Saudi Arabia, to Egypt, to Bahrain, he does a good job at examining the past and present context of Middle Eastern culture(s). And as the book was written pre-Sept. 11th (and only minorly updated with sprinkles about the attacks) it is not as frantic as most of the post-Sept. 11th books. It is truly a good read and for the lay person, a great one.

That said, Mr. Lamb comes away seemingly pessimistic about the Middle East. The problem he seems to have the hardest time with, while never coming right out to say it, is the problem most Westerners have. The West is always inclined to look forward; we are looking for the new innovations, new ways of doing things, improvements to be made, and how the future contains new and ever increasing knowledge to help us move on. Our only rule is that there is no rule so sacrosant that we cannot alter it if need permits.

The Middle East, at least as he and many others see it, is much more intent on traditionalism; if it wasn't in the Koran or have some tie in with tradition, it is ill-accepted. Even when legitimately trying to look ahead, the Middle East seems easily undercut by wanting to look back to the past. Islam encourages this, as the Koran is held to be relevant to all places AND ALL TIMES. Monarchy, dictatorship, fundamentalism, and what we westerners would (rightly or wrongly) call extreme social conservatism are not only prevelant, but seem inerradicable. Whether these judgments are right or wrong, I cannot say; I am not a middle-eastern scholar. Mr. Lamb, though, does seem to be saying the same thing as many others who've explored the region.

To conclude, this book tries to be as unbiased as possible. Does it succeed? Probably not. Will any Westerner's book succeed in this goal? Probably not. Does that mean it is not valuable? No; it is simply the best we may expect. It is well written, layed out, and thorough. Mr. Lamb tries to be sympathetic to as many people as he can, and in that alone, the book is better than most out there. I strongly reccomend it especially if, like me, you are simultaneouly fascinated, mystified, curious, and confused about this thing called the Middle East.

David Lamb's "The Arabs" reads like a long, Sunday feature article from the travel section. It's rich and vivid, yet it does not use snesational tricks to hold the reader's attention. First published twelve years ago, it remains timely today; required reading for anyone travelling to the middle east. Lamb's book focuses on long-term cultural and social trends in the Middle East, and while a few of his chapters (notably, the ones on Iran and Lebanon) are out-of-date, the rest still carry the full weight of his original writing. Lamb sprinkles numerous trivia and slice-of-life images throughout his book, ranging from plumbing to courtship, auto mechanics in Kuwait to getting visas for Saudi Arabia. Those glimpses provide lighthearted breaks from the more serious descriptions of countries and a religion which few Westerners understand, but Lamb puts within easy reach.

I bought the 2002 version and it claims--on the back cover and in the introduction--to be "throughly revised and updated" since the 1987 original publishing.

I don't have the original version for comparison, but the new one is very dated. All statistics (income, population, etc) are from the mid-1980s! How hard would it have been for Lamb or a research assistant to update those? There are frequent references to "the two superpowers" or "the Soviet Union." All anecdotes are from the 1970s and 1980s; Lamb talks about the difficulty of setting up appointments and how his telexes would go unanswered... with no attempt to link this to 2002 technology (does anyone under 40 even know what a telex is nowadays?). Every once in a while one comes across a rather obvious attempt to modernize the book, but these are so rare and out of the flow as to be useless.

Overall, I'd say back in 1987 this would have been a good introduction to the Middle East for the general reader. Considering how much the region has changed in 21 years, I'd say it is close to useless now, and one shouldn't support a publisher giving such a half-hearted attempt to cash in on post 9/11 interest in the Middle East.

Any book attempting to handle such an enourmous subject as this is going to have a large mountain to climb. There is so much to describe and many different ways of describing it. I admit I was a bit skeptical at first, I didn't think someone with a background in journalism was going to be able to cover this topic in a meaningful way. Thankfully I was wrong. This is not a scholarly book and Lamb states this upfront. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing as he is an excellent writer and the type of training he lacks as a political scientist is overcome by how approachable he makes the subject seem.

One of the biggest problems I have with books like these is that they tend to gloss over some of the more important details about U.S. actions in the region. Lamb does not fall into this trap and didn't sugarcoat the unsavory things that the U.S. and Israel have done. At the same time, he also makes no apologies for how most Arab rulers have used the Palestinian issue to benefit themselves while never really helping the Palestinians. This book is refreshing in that it doesn't seem to favor any one particular group or country over another.

There were only a few minor complaints I had with this book. This is an updated book and I felt that the newer sections Lamb added on were rushed and not much thought was put into them. There's a noticable difference between the quality of these additions and the bulk of the book that was originally published. Also, when Lamb ventures into analytical territory, like the section on terrorism for example, it becomes clear that this isn't the type of subject matter a journalist should really be writing on. After reading quite a bit of more scholarly literature on terrorism, Lamb's contributions aren't really that helpful. You'd do well to read authors like Graham Fuller for this material.

I think if you have an interest in the Middle East, but it isn't something you're going to devote a significant amount of time to, I would recommend this book. The author presents a nice mixture of material that would be very helpful for someone that is new to the topic. I've read quite a bit about the Middle East, and I still found this book to be a very enjoyable read.

At last, there is a fair and unbiased vision for the arab people. The west used to look for arabs , as hostile and antiwest minds.In this book, lamb put the evidences that show the real image.
David lamb wrote a very nice desciption for the arab identity.
In his analysis , he depended upon many trusted referances as well as living among arab community for long time.
I liked his historical analysis for terrorism and history of aggressive movments in the middle east.
He demonstrated that it is quite unfair vision of the west to arab people.
I invite every European and American to read this unbiased analysis that may explain why the world suffer from instability now.

As we in the West still focus on Middle Eastern states and their government institutions when formulating policy, Lamb's book provides an interesting view of what's happening on the streets of the Middle East: the views, habits, and perspectives of ordinary Arabs. The edition I read was dated, but it still highlighted the importance of watching social and cultural trends in the Middle East.

The governments of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc. all face rising popular discontent, and Lamb's book seems like a good start in trying to see where these trends could go.

Not being an Arab, I can't testify to his bias, but he seemed balanced to me--he pointed out the good and the bad, which is all any writer can do. No native of any region that a "foreigner" writes about is ever satisfied with the result, so there's little point in trying. I would point out, however, that those same foreigners undoubtedly have views of the United States that are less than informed.

This book was a great introduction into many aspects of Arab culture. Highly recommend it to anyone before making a decision about current Arab-American relations.

Mr. lamb offers an honest unbiased critique of the Arab countries. His remarks consist of very complimentary remarks and very critical comments. Both are honest with reasoning put forth with them. I highly recommend this book.

Finally an unbiased story of the Arab world! The book illustrates with candor and great insight the bias and shortsightedness of the many American Administrations and gives a realistic picture of the Arab-Israeli conflict. This book should be required in high school so that people can press their leader in Washington to have a balance policy towards the Middle East.

It is the other side of the story.

Arabs is not as good as Aficans,also by David Lamb. Of course it was writter initially in 1984 and updated in 2002, but it's outdated for current events. It is an excellent resource, however.