The Palestinian Authority

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-Since these books cover the history, government, and politics of two Middle Eastern trouble spots, knowledgeable, clear, and reasoned writing is essential. On that basis, Palestinian Authority is a failure. The writing is confusing, florid at times, and biased. The text is rife with errors of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, not to mention facts: the Franco-Russian instead of the Franco-Prussian War; the establishment of the British mandate in Palestine after World War II instead of World War I; 1948, "the year following World War II." The most glaring mistake describes the Palestinian Authority as "an independent state." The book is in fact misnamed, with "Palestinian Authority" appearing only on the final page. Kuwait fares better, with only a few inconsistencies and errors marring the clearly written effort, although the full-color photographs are often irrelevant. (Why show the Shah of Iran and his wife?) Quotations, used in both books but especially heavily in Palestinian Authority, are not footnoted. Passing reference to the source is sometimes made in the body of the text. Each book has one short page of further reading and one of bibliography, although several of the titles and Web sites are the same. Despite the real need for a carefully crafted book on the Palestinian situation, the only acceptable choice here is Kuwait.-Diane S. Marton, Arlington County Library, VA Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.