And a follow-up question:

Is it possible to separate Middle Eastern history from Islam? Are they totally intertwined?

Can you be a bit more specific? Do you mean religious culture or more general culture? Keep in mind also that the spread of Islam affected different areas of the Middle East more than others in terms of conversion. Is there a particular region in the Middle East you're looking for or all of it. It changes the answer to the question. If it's all in general, whole books are written about this and it will require a very long answer.