Combining essential themes in the discipline of comparative politics with a country-by-country analysis, author David S. Sorenson provides a complete and accessible introduction to the modern Middle East. While emphasizing politics, the text dedicates separate chapters specifically to the history, religions, and political economy of the region. These introductory chapters together constitute an important thematic overview and orientation for each of the book's individual country chapters, including countries of the Persian (Arabian) Gulf, the Eastern Mediterranean, and North Africa. In each country chapter, a brief political history is followed by discussions of democratization, religious politics, women's issues, civil society, economic development, privatization, and foreign relations. Throughout the book, “Images”-short vignettes based on the author's personal observations during his extensive travels in the Middle East-offer readers a chance for personal reflection on the topics discussed in each chapter.