A concise history of the Middle East / Arthur Goldschmidt Jr.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 457-482) and index.

1. Introduction -- 2. The Middle East Before Muhammad. A Minimum of Antiquity. Persia and Rome. The Arabs -- 3. The Prophet of Mecca. Muhammad's Early Life. The Emigration (Hijrah). Assessment -- 4. What Is Islam? Basic Beliefs. The Five Pillars of Islam -- 5. The Early Arab Conquests. The Succession Issue. The Initial Conquests. The Beginnings of Islamic Government. Dissension in the Ummah. Changes in the Government of Islam -- 6. The High Caliphate. Restoration of the Umayyad Order. The Downfall of the Umayyads. The Abbasid Caliphate. The Decline of the Abbasids -- 7. Shi'is and Turks, Crusaders and Mongols. Shi'i Islam in Power. The Turks. The Crusades. The Mongol Invasion -- 8. Islamic Civilization. The Rules and Laws of Islam. Development of Jurisprudence. Islamic Society. Importance of Family Life. Intellectual Life. Theology -- 9. Firearms, Slaves, and Empires. The Mamluks. The Mongol Il-Khanids. The Religious Issue. Gunpowder Technology.

The Ottoman Empire. Persia under the Safavids -- 10. European Interests and Imperialism. Ottoman Weakness. The European Powers and the Eastern Question -- 11. Westernizing Reform in the Nineteenth Century. Egypt. Westernization of the Ottoman Empire. Persia under the Qajars -- 12. The Rise of Nationalism. Egyptian Nationalism. Ottomanism, Pan-Islam, and Turkism. Nationalism in Persia -- 13. The Roots of Arab Bitterness. Arab Nationalism. World War I. The Postwar Peace Settlement -- 14. Modernizing Rulers in the Independent States. Turkey: Phoenix from the Ashes. From Persia to Iran. The Rise of Saudi Arabia -- 15. Egypt's Struggle for Independence. Britain's Role in Egypt. The Egyptian Revolution. A Strange Ending -- 16. The Contest for Palestine. Origins. Prefatory Remarks. The Beginnings of Political Zionism. Britain and the Palestine Problem -- 17. Israel's Rebirth and the Rise of Arab Nationalism. Israel's War for Independence. The War's Aftermath.

The Arab Countries. Israel's Early Years. Middle Eastern Oil. The Great Powers and the Arab World -- 18. War and the Quest for Peace. The June 1967 War. The Palestinians. Abortive Peace Efforts. Political Changes: 1967-1970. Danger Signs in the Middle East. The October (Yom Kippur) War. The War's Aftermath. Lebanon: The Arena for a New Arab Struggle. The Road to Camp David -- 19. The Reassertion of Islamic Power. Prefatory Remarks on Islam and Politics. The Iranian Revolution. The Struggle for Gulf Supremacy. The Retreat from Camp David. Western Policy Formation and Islamic Polity -- 20. The Gulf War and the Peace Process. The Present in Historical Perspective. The Gulf War. Operation Desert Storm. Palestinians and the Peace Process. Whither Islam? A Parting Message.