As current events have made painfully obvious, the Middle East is a region long torn by strife and traditions of warfare. In this elegant, fast-paced, and well thought out cultural and military history, T. C. F. Hopkins, author of Confrontation at Lepanto, provides a remarkable glimpse into the origins of the conflicts that formed the ancient world as well as the world we have inherited.

This book examines the development of the traditions and hostilities that have grown from millennia of conflict and looks at the precarious balance between the West and the Middle East....