The first comprehensive history of America's involvement in the Middle East from George Washington to George W. Bush. Beginning with the Barbary Wars of the eighteenth century and extending to the conflicts of today, the United States has been profoundly involved in the Middle East. America fought its first foreign war there and established its navy to meet a Middle Eastern threat. The Middle East, in turn, inspired works by some of America's preeminent artists, lured prominent leaders, and attracted generations of Americans seeking to educate, modernize, and proselytize its peoples. Power, Faith, and Fantasy tells the remarkable story of America's 230-year relationship with this crucial area, reconstructing the diverse channels through which the United States has interacted with the Middle East. The book also examines America's artistic legacy in the Middle East, exploring the dynamic ways in which popular culture in the United States has portrayed the region and its peoples. By distinguishing the recurrent themes in America's Middle East involvement and by tracing their evolution over the course of more than two centuries, the book reveals the continuity that binds this vital narrative in the nation's history. Michael B. Oren is a senior fellow at the Shalem Center and has been a visiting lecturer at Harvard and Yale Universities. He is the author of Six Days of War: June 1967, and the Making of the Modern Middle East, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Award. Oren lives in Jerusalem with his wife and three children. Norman Dietz has recorded over 100 audiobooks during his years in the studio. Named one of AudioFile magazine's fifty "Best Voices of the Century," several of his recordings have been AudioFile Earphones Award winners. An actor, published author, and live performer, Dietz lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
