In the first book of his revelatory new trilogy, Middle East Perspectives: Personal Recollections (published by iUniverse), author Bassil A. Mardelli offers readers an all-encompassing overview of 20 years spent in the Middle East, examined from historical, philosophical and sociological viewpoints.
"The events unfolding in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Israel are all connected by a single fine thread which is easily missed," Mardelli writes. "This book ties them together in a single story."
Divided into three books, Middle East Perspectives begins with an account of Middle Eastern unrest and upheaval from the years spanning 1947 - 1967. Still feeling the effects of World War II, the Arab-Israeli war came to a head in 1967, a situation which still exists today and which Mardelli believes is a key component to the current turmoil in the Middle East.
Book Two covers the period from 1968 - 1989 and specifically focuses on Lebanon during that time, "when the Gulf petrodollars were pouring into well-governed Lebanese banking systems in the land that had once been a quiet haven in a turbulent Middle East," Mardelli writes. "It is the era in which the term conspiracy theorists became more artificially propagated."
The last book in Mardelli's Middle East Perspectives spans from 1990 - 2009 and turns its attention to the aftermath of Iran's Islamic revolution. Lebanon's role is examined and Mardelli intersperses his narration with quotes from myriad sources.
Comprehensive and enlightening, Middle East Perspectives will appeal to historians, scholars and anyone interested in cultivating a broader understanding of the radical transformations in the Middle East over the last 63 years. Discover more in this essential new trilogy.
