Engaging the Muslim World

I gave this book 4 stars for what it should have been, not for how I felt about it.

Cole is a master - a Middle East historian who diverges greatly from the Lewis camp of Near East affairs. But this book, which started off strong, soon lost my interest. It might be because much of the information I've read before.

This book is an extremely important book, and Cole presents the information in a way that is easily accessible to people who don't know much about the region or about the issues. People who know a decent amount about the Middle East already might find it a bit tired, though.