"Completely revised, updated, and expanded to reflect the massive change in the Middle East since the first edition was published in 1996, The Essential Middle East is a must-have reference for anyone interested in understanding more about the Middle East. In these pages expert author Dilip Hiro offers a broad range of alphabetically arranged information about everything from politics and religion to literature and tourist destinations. Authoritative and devoid of bias, The Essential Middle East is also easy to read and easy to use."--BOOK JACKET.