Fantasy & Reality

Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present, by Michael B. Oren (Norton, 778 pp., $35)

THE UNITED STATES and the world of Islam are separated by geographic distance, and even more by culture and religion. The present clash with Islamism might therefore seem beyond imagining, so wild and far-flung is it. Nonetheless, through the various crises in the Middle East, historic forces are at work to bring about this clash that can only be fateful, as Michael Oren elucidates. He is a scholar at a think tank in Jerusalem. Written with the narrative drive of a novel, his huge and thoughtful book is rich in past incident and anecdote that illuminate the present.

About the Author

David Pryce-Jones

David Pryce-Jones (1936–2025) was a British author and commentator and served as a senior editor of National Review.

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Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present, by Michael B. Oren (Norton, 778 pp., $35)

THE UNITED STATES and the world of Islam are separated by geographic distance, and even more by culture and religion. The present clash with Islamism might therefore seem beyond imagining, so wild and far-flung is it. Nonetheless, through the various crises in the Middle East, historic forces are at work to bring about this clash that can only be fateful, as Michael Oren elucidates. He is a scholar at a think tank in Jerusalem. Written with the narrative drive of a novel, his huge and thoughtful book is rich in past incident and anecdote that illuminate the present.