A Concise History of the Arabs

Publishers WeeklySqueezing the history of a people into one volume is an ambitious undertaking with the end result bound to leave out more than it includes, the details needed to understand a time and place elided. McHugo, an international lawyer and Arabist, proves as much with this unfocused volume. It's very much history of the old school, a linear narrative detailing a "concatenation of historical events," which, while cogent and serviceable, fails to capture the essence of societal transformation and intellectual ferment. McHugo promises that "this is not a history of Islam" but begins with the birth of Muhammad, ignoring the much-older origins of Arab identity. The Maghreb and al-Andalus are mostly absent, as is the Arabian Peninsula itself—a thumbnail sketch of Saudi Arabia appears only as an awkward appendage to a chapter ostensibly about Egypt—and the two political entities discussed at greatest length are Israel and the Ottoman Empire.