(September 9, 2013 at 11:07 am)Clueless Morgan Wrote: I took a world history class in college which contrasted Chinese and European history (so I guess it wasn't a comprehensive "World" history course but whatever, it was interesting) and ever since then I've been frustrated in realizing how little I know about the history of the non-European/North American/Central American world.
With that said, I've finally decided that my next to complete ignorance about the history of the Middle East and about Islam needs to be rectified.
Try Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times, by Donald Redford for a general history of ancient Near East and Egypt.
There are a jillion books on Islam. The Cambridge History of Islam in 2 volumes is good and not horribly expensive.
The history of Israel and Judea tend to be entangled in Near Eastern archaeology. A good start here would be Israel Finkelstein's Unearthing the Bible and William Deavers Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come from?
Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt (Chronicles) by Peter Clayton gives a good chronological timeline of Egypt's pharohs and Egyptian history.
Some books can be found online. William Muir's works on Islamic history at the internet atrchivve for example. Old but still useful reading.
The History of the Arab Peoples is a good book for that. By Albert Hourani
Cheerful Charlie
If I saw a man beating a tied up dog, I couldn't prove it was wrong, but I'd know it was wrong.
- Attributed to Mark Twain
If I saw a man beating a tied up dog, I couldn't prove it was wrong, but I'd know it was wrong.
- Attributed to Mark Twain
