Perspective

Friedman is certainly qualified to write this book. He becomes interested in the Middle East when he is a child and spends his high school summers working on a kibbutz south of Haifa. He studies Arabic in Cairo as an undergrad and spends a semester studying in Israel. He then takes a masters degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Oxford. While in graduate school, he writes several articles that are published in various newspapers. This is enough to help land him a job with United Press International when he finishes his studies. After a few months, he is offered a job as UPI's Beirut correspondent. He jumps at the chance, even though he will be a Jewish correspondent in Lebanon. After two year, he goes to work for The New York Times and after several more years, he is transferred to Jerusalem. He covers the Israeli invasion of...