What Went Wrong?   (book)

What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East

For those of us out there who were disillusioned by the boring, sanitized, and inconclusive versions of history taught in public schools, Bernard Lewis does a great job of approaching this question from all angles including linguistics, psychology, and economics. His analyses are, well, anal. In a good way. Like the several times throughout the text where he points out mistranslations of historical documents that have skewed their meaning in important ways. If you're a history, linguistics, or general Middle East dork, this book is highly recommended. It can get a bit dry in some places if you're not dragged along by interest in the subject matter, but is nonetheless a worthwhile read.