Middle East Studies in Fiction

by Cinnamon Stillwell
Thu, 15 May 2008 at 12:54 PM

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My latest Campus Watch article - posted today at Frontpage Magazine - explores the intersection of fiction, academia, and terrorism. It begins like so:

It isn't often that characters based on the field of Middle East studies show up in current fiction, but the novels of author Daniel Silva are an exception. The last three novels of his series featuring Israeli secret agent/art restorer Gabriel Allon explore the intersection of Middle East studies and international intrigue.

The sixth novel in the series, Prince of Fire, begins with a horrific terrorist attack at the Israeli embassy in Rome, explores the origins of the modern state of Israel, and ends in an archaeological excavation trench in Provence. Figuring throughout is the handsome and mysterious Paul Martineau, an "adjunct professor of archaeology at the prestigious University of Aix-Marseille III." Martineau appears to be a Frenchman of indeterminate origin, but when all is laid bare his lineage extends back to the so-called royalty of Palestinian terrorism. Martineau is, in fact, the mastermind behind not only the Israeli embassy bombing, but a string of Islamic terrorist attacks throughout Europe.

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