Power, Faith, and Fantasy
America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present

Once again I find myself giving Michael Oren five stars and warning people away from his book. Five stars for a thoroughly researched and highly informative read, to be sure. But expect a pretty long slog. This ambitious tome describes the interactions between the United States and the Middle East fr......more

I read Oren's book 'Six Days of War' about the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, back in the days before Goodreads. Loved the book, and it explains much about the modern day Middle East. Granted Oren is a American born Israeli, but he I believe he presented the facts in an objective fashion. This book is a pres......more

Michael Oren must be a horrible lay. I say this because only a horrible lay could take a subject as rife with passion and controversy as America's involvement in the Middle East and make it a mind-numbingly dull read. Furthermore, while the book's subtitle is "America in the Middle East from 1776 to......more

Few fields have been as well plowed as that of Middle East studies. Indeed, the ever expanding shelf in the bookstore on the topic groans under the weight of a torrent of new works, many which might be charitably described as derivative of already existing work. What a thrill then when a new book ap......more

I am giving this 3 stars solely based on the amount of information included. Here is why it doesn't get a better rating. The book starts with the very interesting Barbary Wars when the United States was brand new. It discusses the impacts that the pirates from Northern Africa had on the formation of......more