Every few years Professor Freedman plays host to a conference on the Middle East, then edits and publishes the contributions. The quality of the book depends on the authors and on how far they wish to extend themselves. In this case the results are quite good (inter alia, Freedman himself on Soviet policy, Barry Rubin on U.S. policy, Robert Hunter on Western Europe, Rashid Khaladi on the PLO, John Devlin on Syria). That they write much the same things they have written elsewhere does not diminish the value of the book as a useful overview.