The subtitle of this book, The Biblical Roots of the Inevitable Crisis in the Middle East, is what drew me in. The book covers the biblical history, beginning with Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael and moves throughout most of the Old Testament and relates that history with the historical and current conflict in the Middle East.
This book does a phenomenal job of laying out the history in a detailed, yet easy to understand way. Part One covers the biblical history from Abraham to Jacob and the history of the nation of Israel. Maps are provided throughout and help in comprehension. The most enlightening part for me was the link he provided between the historical world powers in that area (Babylon, Persia, Assyria) and the current regimes in those same areas (Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia). Part Two covers the conflicting perspectives - Jewish, Islamic and Christian.
I was finally able to connect a lot of my Biblical knowledge to current events in a way that made sense to me. I truly learned a lot. Sometimes I felt the author got a bit bogged down in a section that didn't seem as relevant to the main point, but overall he took a complex situation and distilled it down without dumbing it down. The book included a Study Question section in the back that I felt would be a great asset if reading this book in a group or if one wanted to spend more time studying in depth.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and am planning on passing it on and recommending it to others!
