Rogan, director of the Middle East Centre at St. Anthony's College, Oxford, begins his history of the Muslim Middle and Near East with the Ottoman Empire in the thirteenth century, thereby avoiding a rehash of the first centuries of Islam so prevalent in other similar histories. With erudition and an even-handed approach, he follows the fortunes of the Arabs under the Ottomans and the rise of the colonial occupation, starting with Napoleon in Egypt. The internal and external political/religious struggles of the Muslim world are brought up to the present, including the Six-day War and the Gulf War. Using both Arabic and Western sources, Rogan shows the flaws and strengths in those on all sides, presenting many different opinions, particularly within the Arab world, too often perceived as monolithic. While not dispassionate, Rogan is able to differentiate his own perspective from the evidence as given in the sources. This is an excellent explanation of the political and military history of the Arab world, written in an accessible narrative style. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)