Bernard Lewis has written a number of very good books about the Middle East. This one, published in 2004, is especially important, because it is evident from the events of the past several decades that the American public in general, as well as the political elite in Washington, don't really understand the world view of the so-called "Arab street", and that has resulted in a number of expensive embarrassments and missteps in our foreign policy. We tend (quite naturally) to think that the Arab world sees the world more or less the way we do. But that is not the case - they see a very different world. Lewis does a good job of introducing us to that world view, and the historical antecedents that have shaped it.
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