A nation must think before it acts.
Books for Middle and Secondary Schools
Since 2002, FPRI has partnered with Mason Crest Publishers on four book series for middle school and high school students:
The Mason Crest volumes are beautifully designed, including numerous maps and photos, and the content, while accessible to students, is neither “dumbed down” nor subject to the “political correctness” characteristic of college campuses. They are sophisticated enough that adults profit from reading them. The School Library Journal wrote that the Modern Middle East Nations volumes, particularly the volumes on Israel and the Palestinians, were “the best introductions to the political conflict currently in print for this age group.” And one reviewer wrote of Alan Luxenberg’s more recent The Palestine Mandate and the Creation of Israel, part of the Making of the Middle East series:
The reader will be treated to a clarity of writing rarely seen in social studies series books for pre-college age students. S/he will also meet with a striving for objectivity that is the hallmark of the discipline of historical writing. From the Ottoman background to World War II’s aftermath, from modern Zionism’s origins to the development of Arab nationalism, the author chronicles the attempts, successes, and setbacks in the effort to satisfy the nationalistic drives of the two nations—Arab and Jewish—of Palestine. Trivia is excluded while the essentials of the historical record are told; the glossary and timeline entries are concise and devoid of propaganda…. This imprint has succeeded in setting a standard that puts to shame the amateurish, error-ridden, biased work one too often finds in other publishers’ social studies series. Includes an index, glossary, timeline, short bibliography and list of Internet resources plus maps and archival photographs. (Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter, May-June 2008)
For the complete review of these books and other books in the series, visit www.ottnpublishing.com/mideast.htm.
Currently under development or discussion are joint FPRI-Mason Crest series of volumes on Islam and terrorism, as is an update of the Modern Middle East Nations series.