Carleton S. Coon was an American physical anthropologist. This work, published in 1958, is his take on the Middle East. Contents: The picture and its pieces. Land, wind, and water. The peoples, ancient and marginal. The Semites. The Iranians. The prophet and the law. The five pillars of Islam. Strength in diversity. More peoples, the Turks and Mongols. Differences, inherited and acquired. The village. The camp in the desert. Greener pastures. Town and city. Shahs and Sultans. The land of insolence. The ship and the caravan. A lesson in austerity

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