I first read "History of the Arabs" in 1965, and I've been reading Bernard Lewis ever since. He is THE MAN. There is no other living person who personifies scholarship of the Middle East the same way he does. (Claude Cahen died a few years ago.) The range of his knowledge (from early Islam to the present day) is astounding, as is the range of his linguistic ability (how many scholars know Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew, AND Turkish, not to mention most of the European languages?), and the range of his personal acquaintance (the assassin of King Abdullah of Jordan was a former student, Prince Bandar, Cheney, etc.).
If I am able to watch TV at age 95, I'll be happy. Lewis wrote a book. Yes, it's not as elegant (his word for what historical writing should be) as both he and the reader might like, but let that go. He's 95. Some reviewers accuse him of egotism, but when you reach a certain age, you quite naturally have met a lot of people, had a lot of experiences, and have been involved in a lot of events. It's his autobiography. Should he ignore himself? I don't think so. That's why I read the book!
I enjoyed the stories of how and why he accepted certain positions, declined payment for others, etc. A lot of his stories are cautionary: he went to considerable trouble to get a colleague a post at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. The colleague was unaware of Lewis's role. After Lewis's retirement, the same colleague was the one who insisted Lewis give up his office at the Institute. He also tells stories that don't make him look so good: the entrance interview with the girl studying Chinese history (of which Lewis knew nothing), is a good example. He doesn't shy away from making himself look bad, although he does try to explain what he took away from the negative incidents.
He seems to be something of a horn dog, although there is only the odd line or two to catalog the wives and girlfriends. Since he admits that his second divorce affected his writing and career, some more detail would have been welcome.
One glaring omission is how he achieved mastery of Arabic in a relatively short time. Apparently at the same time he was learning Greek as well, for his classes in Byzantine history from Norman Baynes. What was his secret in learning languages? Extraordinary focus? Memory? Repetition? Conversing with natives? Reading? What? Precisely how did he go about it? We all learn differently, but obviously whatever he did was right for him. I'd like to know what it was! Give me some of that.
The other omission is a description of how broad his knowledge is. He talks about being a "historian," which is fine, but what does he know beyond the Middle East (yes, Byzantium and the Balkans, but they are still tied up in the Middle East). What does he know of Medieval England or France? Renaissance? etc. Not a word about any of that. Maybe there's nothing to say? On the other hand, I remember seeing "University Challenge" in the UK a few years ago. All the members of one team were physics and math students…and yet, when a fairly arcane question came up about Byzantine history, they knew the answer. In general, British education is much broader than US, although it's not clear to me how they manage it. Maybe Lewis takes it for granted that "everyone" knows European history, from cavemen through 2013.
Some of the other (nameless here) Amazon reviewers obviously didn't read the book. For example: Buntzie is not a secretary who sat him down to chat at lunch, she is a long-time friend (and lover, we assume). To quarrel with his statement that he did not support the 2003 war in Iraq is to ignore Lewis's own verbatim e-mails (quoted in the book) and believe instead some little-known author's belief in gossip. Lewis's comment on the pronunciation of his first name, Bernard, is something you hear from a lot of Bernards from the UK--there the stress in on the first syllable, not the second (the opposite of what one reviewer here said). It's not egomania, it's a comment on UK-US differences in pronunciation. He has a fair amount to say about UK-US differences in language and culture, as you would expect from someone who spent the first half of his life in the UK and the second half in the US. It's all interesting.
Anyone who has any interest in the academic life or the Middle East will find this a fascinating and memorable book. I probably found 2-3 noteworthy items on every page.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2013
Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2015
Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2013
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2012
Top reviews from other countries
EARLY SIXTIES HOMINID
Enjoyed this book. Would like to read more of his work.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 3, 2022Neil Chamandy
Eminently readable and inspiring
Reviewed in Canada on January 7, 2017
