He also criticized the book for being narrow, citing its omission of wider context, inadequate coverage of The Copts, and its lack of any mention of some important works on Arabic history and literature. He was also critical of the way endnotes were organized, describing them as "so impenetrable as to disaffect the enquiring reader".[60] Lawrence Rosen reviewed the book for The Marginalia Review of Books. He contrasted Bernard Lewis's approach which asked What Went Wrong? with that of Mackintosh-Smith which presented disunity as a pattern that repeats itself throughout Arab History.