Syria’s Secret Library by Mike Thomson is an incredible book, and audiobook, showing how people yearn for some sort of normalcy in times of war

Charles Montagu Doughty was a poet, adventurer, and writer from England. He is known for his book Travels in Arabia (1888), which was published in two volumes

A fine book & a great choice of authors. I never realized the contribution of most of these authors to the world, as well as the significance of their stories

Idris, in the United States decides to sell the family’s home in Beirut, but for that he wants the whole family to come along to the city they grew up in

The story is funny when seen from the view point of a child (as it is told) but somewhat tragic when read from a more mature, worldly, perspective.

Mr. Oren presents the history from the point of view of politicians, not the soldiers on the ground. He doesn’t deal much with military tactics but more with high level decisions and diplomatic chess games.

It is refreshing to read a story from the aggressor’s point of view, usually we get a sore look from the victim’s eyes. This aggressor, however, is justifying his acts, however horrendous. In war and under pressure, as well as mob mentality, regular people commit atrocities which weeks or even days before were unthinkable to them.

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker is a novel taking place in New York, 1899. The story weaves two mythical creature from two different cultures to create a different kind of story altogether.

The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book -to enter fill out the Raf­fle­copt­ter form at the end of the post.

Even operations that seem mundane, such as smuggling out of the Soviet Union of Nikita Khrushchev’s secret speech gets an air of reverence and complexity

Michael Korda treats this pivotal occurrence in the life of T.E. Lawrence’s with sensitivity and seriousness it deserves.