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Historical Novels of the Middle EastOf the historical novels set in the Middle East, only a few represent primarily the viewpoints of natives. Among those which do are novels by distinguished authors such as British-Pakistani journalist Tariq Ali, Nobel Prize-winning Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, and Lebanese author Amin Maalouf, winner of a 1993 Prix Goncourt. Middle Eastern cultures are more varied than many Westerners realize, and historical novels reflect that richness. As the cradle of the Jewish and Christian religions, this area is the setting for numerous novels set during the period of ancient history when those religions were developing. See the Ancient History page for a list of those novels. The many novels about the Crusades which reflect primarily the viewpoints of European Crusaders (most of whom had little understanding of Arabic culture and, by definition, considered the Islamic religion to be reprehensible) are listed on the Medieval Europe page. In general, novels reflecting a European or American perspective are listed on those pages regardless of the physical setting, so if you don't see what you want here, try looking under the time and place of the main character's homeland. Novels are listed alphabetically by author within the following categories: The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula
Ghalib Lakhnavi & Abdullah Bilgrami, The Adventures of Amir Hamza, a saga dating back to as early as the seventh century, about an uncle of the Prophet Muhammed; new translation into English by Musharraf Ali Farooqi published in 2007 Abdelrahman Munif, Cities of Salt, about the effects on an unspecified Middle Eastern country of Americans looking for oil beginning in the 1930s
Palestine, Israel, Syria, LebanonRabih Alameddine, The Hakawati, about the stories from the Middle East, present and past, that a dying man in Beirut tells to his son Tariq Ali, The Book of Saladin, about Salah-al-din's reconquest of Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187 Sarah Bryant, The Sand Daughter, about a young Bedouin woman during the Crusades in the Middle East Emile Habiby (also spelled Emil or Imil Habibi), The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist, a tragicomic novel about a hapless Palestinian who remains in Israel after its creation and becomes an informer for the state. More info Amin Maalouf, Balthasar’s Odyssey, about a Levantine merchant in 1666 and his search for a mystical book said to contain the hundredth name of God Amin Maalouf, The Rock of Tanios, about the disappearance of a Lebanese child during the late nineteenth century period of political struggle over the Ottoman Empire Kanan Makiya, The Rock: A Tale of Seventh-Century Jerusalem, about the building of Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock by Jews, Christians and Muslims in a time when the distinctions between Islam and Judaism were still blurred Leon Uris, Exodus, about the creation of Israel after World War II Leon Uris, The Haj, about Palestinians during the early to mid-twentieth century; has been criticized as a stereotyped and largely negative portrayal Herman Wouk, The Hope, about the Arab-Israeli wars, beginning with the 1948 Israeli War of Indepedence
Turkey and the Ottoman EmpireTariq Ali, The Stone Woman, about a wealthy Istanbul family in the summer of 1899 as the Ottoman Empire decays Barbara Chase-Riboud, Valide: A Novel of the Harem, about harem women in the Ottoman Empire Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red, a literary novel set in sixteenth century Istanbul about the disappearance of an artist involved in the Sultan's project to illustrate a book with representational artwork forbidden by Islam Orhan Pamuk, The White Castle, a surrealistic literary novel about a seventeenth century Italian scholar who becomes the slave of a scholar in Constantinople
Mesopotamia and AfghanistanJustin Allen, Slaves of the Shinar, about a fictional war in ancient Sumer waged by the legendary Nephilim people. More info Gillian Bradshaw, Horses of Heaven, about a spiritually gifted woman forced into a political marriage with the ruler of Ferghana (now Afghanistan) in the second century B.C. More info Wallace Breem, The Leopard and the Cliff, about the 1919 British war in Afghanistan. Marek Halter, The Wind of the Khazars, about a modern novelist challenged to find a subject worth writing about and a pair of tenth century lovers in Khazaria, the ancient Jewish nation in the southern Caucasus. More info Linda Holeman, The Moonlit Cage, about an abused Afghan wife who flees to India and then London in the nineteenth century. More info Amin Maalouf, The Gardens of Light, about the third century Mesopotamian artist, doctor and prophet Mani, whose philosophy in a distorted form came to be known as Manichaeism. More info
PersiaAnita Amirrezvani, The Blood of Flowers, about a young woman in seventeenth century Persia forced to become a carpet weaver after her father dies. More info Vladimir Bartol, Alamut, about Hasan Sabbah, an eleventh century warlord who converted young men into fearless assassins by tricking them into believing he held the key to Paradise; originally published in 1938. Review C.J. Kirwin, Dawn of the Greatest Persian: The Childhood of Cyrus the Great, a novel about the childhood of Cyrus the Great which attempts to reconcile differing accounts of the Persian emperor's life story; #1 in a planned trilogy; self-published. C.J. Kirwin, Finding the Persian Way: Cyrus the Great Travels in Ancient Persia, a novel about the childhood of Cyrus the Great which attempts to reconcile differing accounts of the Persian emperor's life story; #2 in a planned trilogy; self-published. Amin Maalouf, Samarkand, about the eleventh century Persian poet Omar Khayyam. More info
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