I'd suggest :

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 by Steven Coll for a great backgrounder on what the heck happened with Afghanistan (and al Qaeda) prior to 9/11.

And if you want a good backgrounder on how a lot of this thing with Israel and the Arabs came about, how about Paris 1919? Between the British trying to figure out how to keep everybody happy and everybody wanting their piece of the pie, it was hell. Good book though.

For a flavor of Iran (a player in all of this), how about Clavell's Whirlwind? Admittedly, there's a bit of a bias in the book, but it's a good read anyway.

Maybe biographies of Moshe Dayan and Golda Meir may be of interest as well. Of course, such books would have a decided slant in their viewpoints. Maybe a biography of Yasser Arafat would balance the scales?

And for something funnier, maybe PJ O'Rourke's Holidays in Hell?

Thanks! I've printed your post and am giving it to her. :-)

Janalyn-I found The Haj by Leon Uris also very informative when I had similar questions a few years ago. I have now read it 3 times.....

Pat

Janalyn,

Just this week I have started a course at my university on the Middle East. Before the course started, I read The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Middle East (3rd Edition) as background and found it an excellent introduction from which to build on.

Some general texts would include:

War and Peace in the Middle East by Avi Shlaim
Another Century of War by Gabriel Kolko
A History of the Middle East by Peter Mansfield

For recent analysis on recent issues, try the following journals:

Foreign Affairs
Foreign Policy
The Guardian Weekly is excellent too.

Here is some background on the current crisis:

Mired in hate, stained by blood
Issues in the news: Middle East
Ben Haywood
July 24, 2006
http://www.theage.com.au/news/education-news/mired-in-hate-stained-by-blood/2006/07/21/1153166592978.html

Leaders have called on both sides to end the fighting or risk escalation of the crisis.

What happened?

The present crisis in Lebanon was sparked two weeks ago when Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border attack from Lebanon into Israel.
Eight Israeli soldiers were killed and five others were wounded in the July 12 raid. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah says the abducted soldiers were captured to pressure Israel into releasing prisoners. But in one commentator's words, Hezbollah was also asserting itself as a "champion of the Palestinians". The conflict in Lebanon was, in part, precipitated by events in Gaza. Palestinian militants in Gaza kidnapped an Israeli soldier on June 25. Israel responded by sending in its forces. The July 12 Hezbollah raid followed.

Israel has so far refused the prisoner exchange, labelling the Hezbollah raid an act of war. Israel launched a sea blockade and air strikes aimed at cutting Lebanon off from the outside world. Airports, ports and highways have been the main targets. Late last week, Israel expanded its attack with a ground assault on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has responded with continued attacks on northern Israel, with some rockets - supplied by Iran - reaching Haifa, the country's third-largest city.

By Friday, the fighting had killed more than 300 people and wounded 600 in Lebanon. According to the UN emergency relief co-ordinator, a third of the dead or wounded are children. The Israeli attacks have also displaced some 500,000 people.

In Israel, 30 people were dead and more than 200 were injured.

Israel says it will cease its military action if the two kidnapped soldiers are returned, the rocket attacks on northern Israel stop and Hezbollah is neutralised.
The Lebanese Government finds itself in a very difficult position. It is unable to defend itself against the military might of Israel and is equally unable to curtail the activities of the Hezbollah, who effectively control most of southern Lebanon. The country's Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, last week told an Italian newspaper that Hezbollah has...

Picassocat -

Thank you so much for your posting. I'm not a teenager, but appreciate your effort to put this information together. It helps all of us to see all the pieces together in one place.
Israel is exactly 1 month younger than I. I see the paths I have traveled in my years, and am saddened that in all those years no resolution has ever been found for what separates these peoples. I have watched, read and studied, and still it boggles the mind. Good luck on your studies.

janalyn, please reassure your daughter about the WWIII comments. The media in general, and cable news specificaly, like to use hyperbole to get their message across. While the situation is indeed serious, and the world needs to react diplomatically to calm the two sides down, we are not near a WWIII yet.

Best book I have read about the Zionism and the formation of Israel - Bible and the Sword by Barbara Tuchman. If your daughter has above average reading skills, she can probably get through this with some help from you. If not, please read it yourself to get a better understanding of that background.

Also to understand what happened after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, when the Brits drew lines in the sand and completely rearranged the borders of the middle east (creating many countries in the process), read Desert Queen - the biography of Gertrude Bell. She was a compatriot of Laurnece of Arabia, and had as much to do as a consultant to the Brits as Laurence did. Its also the story of an amazing woman before her time.

A couple more titles, Janalyn. I haven't read them but they come well-recommended

The Iron Wall-Israel and the Arab World by the Israeli historian Avi Shlaim.

Jerusalem Memoir: It's Easier to Reach Heaven than the End of the Street. Emma Williams. Described as a poignant response to the usual misinformation about the Palestinians in most of the Anglo-American media.

There is also a new book out Daughter of the Desert. The Remarkable Life of Gertrude Bell by Georgina Howell.

Thanks to all of you for your thoughtful suggestions.

Cindy and Vee - I have read the Desert Queen novel about Gertrude Bell. She was definitely a priveliged but unique individual. I don't know whether I would have liked her personally (I kept having to remind myself that she was a product of her times and she may have had a better time of it in this generation) but she did lead an extraordinary life. Ultimately, though, I felt sorry for her. I'll have to check out the novel Vee mentioned to see if she comes across to the reader the same way.

I tried to post this yesterday, but could not access Glyphs. Bernard Lewis is a renowned scholar of the Middle East and of the history of the Ottoman Empire, who has written quite a long list of books on these topics. The one I read was "What Went Wrong?" (2002). I note from Wikopedia he has written a book since then on Islam (2003).

Still one more suggestion: NY Times columnist Tom Friedman's classic work "From Beirut to Jerusalem". Written a few years ago, but still very timely.

Not a book, but an informed viewpoint of what is going on now from a journalist who has spent time in Lebanon is Michael Totten's blog. He sometimes provides backgrounders.

while I do not endorse their viewpoints, I find The Lebanese Bloggers is a frequently enlightening view from Lebanon. As is The Lebanese Blogger Forum written by Lebanese, some of whom are ex-pats. A much more dispassionate and cynical take on the entire affair is The Big Pharaoh, an Egyptian from a military family.

There are, of course, Israeli bloggers, but I tend not to read them because I get their perspective from much else that I read.

Everything to be taken with a grain of salt, of course. But your daughter obviously doesn't believe everything she hears anyway.