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HISTORY
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Enlightened Observers. British Travellers to the Middle
East 1715-1850
Anita
Damiani
Until the beginning of the nineteenth century in
Europe, travel was considered a necessary adjunct to
education. Eventually the Near East was added to the
“Grand Tour” of the continent. Many of these travellers
recorded and later published what they observed. The
author has chosen to write about four British
travellers: Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Richard Pococke,
Robert Wood and Alexander Russell, all of whom vividly
portray their views of the history, customs and manners
of Near Easterners in the eighteenth century.
English, 1979, 207 pages, 4 plates, index,
bibliography, cloth, $8. |
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The Free Yemeni Movement: 1935-1962
J.
Leigh Douglas
With the revolution of 1962 came the end of the
thousand-year-old imanate in Yemen. The preceding
thirty years had, however, witnessed a multiplicity
of attempts to bring about reforms in the kingdom.
Personal interviews as well as British records,
media reports and other accounts, are skillfully
integrated to give a comprehensive picture of the
time. The often conflicting monarchical, colonial
and Arab nationalist interests in Yemen provide the
context for the author’s chronology and analysis of
the three decades of Free Yemeni activities which
paved the way for the republican revolution.
English, 1987, 307 pages, bibliography, indexes,
paper, $6. |
Intellectual Life in the
Arab East: 1890-1939
Edited by Marwan R.
Buheiry
Some aspects of the
intellectual and social history of the Arab East between
1890 and 1939 are
considered in these seminar proceedings. A review in the
International Journal of Middle East Studies commented
that it is an “indispensable work for scholars interested
in the cross-currents of intellectual, political and social
thought”. There is an emphasis on dimensions not previously
explored, such as nationalism, relations with the West,
political and social reform and the role of literature.
Thirteen papers examine various aspects of the political
aspirations and ideals of the times in Cairo, Beirut, Jabal
Lubnan and Jabal Amel, Damascus, Baghdad and San'a.
English, 1981, 206 pages,
cloth, $8.
Persistence and Change in
19th Century Lebanon: a Sociological Essay
Samir Khalaf
Throughout the nineteenth
century, Lebanon (Mount Lebanon and its coastal strip from
Tripoli to Sidon) was exposed to various forms of social
change which began to dislocate and transform its
well-entrenched feudal society. Social historians have been
inclined to exaggerate change and overlook the large
residue of persistence in the basic institutions and values
which held the society together at the time.
In this book the author
re-examines four encounters with change: the peasant
uprising of 1820, the Egyptian occupation of 1831-41, the
Ottoman reforms of 1838 and 1957, and the Mutessarrifate of
Mount Lebanon. He attempts to reappraise their impact on
concrete instances of behavioral and structural change, and
provides historical evidence to explain why the political
modernization of Lebanon did not generate a clear transfer
of sovereignty from primordial allegiances to secular and
civic commitment.
English, 1979, 167 pages,
cloth, $10
Protection and Politics in
Bahrain, 1869-1915
Talal Toufic Farah
This is a historical study
of the Sheikhdom of Bahrain, particularly the growth the
British protection. Though the first agreement between
Britain and the rulers of Bahrain dates back to 1820, the
period covered in this study begins in 1869, the year
Sheikh Isa B. Ali Al Khalifa acceded to the Sheikhship,
marking the end of a lengthy period of internal conflict.
Around the 1870s, the British had largely succeeded in
imposing a Pax Britannica over the whole of the
Gulf. However, this control was then challenged seriously
by other European powers eager to gain a foothold there.
The author used almost exclusively British sources for his
research and examines how the British authorities succeeded
in establishing in Bahrain a principality where indirect
British control was maintained, unlike other parts of the
British Empire where colonies were ruled directly by
Whitehall.
English, 1985, 240 pages,
index, cloth, $8.
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Provincial Leaderships in Syria, 1575-1650
Abdul-Rahim Abu-Husayn
The
author examines the rural politics of the provinces of
Damascus and Tripoli in Ottoman Syria in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. He considers the kinds of
rural leadership as represented by the most powerful
dynasties that dominated various regions of the Ottoman
empire, and the six Syrian local dynasties he examines
are studied closely, from origin to decline. This
complex work is based on archival material from
Istanbul and Damascus, together with Ottoman and Syrian
chronicles, biographical and travel literature, and
other Turkish, Arabic and Western contemporary sources.
The first two centuries of the Ottoman period in Syria
are little known, and this work sheds important light
on Syria at that time.
English, 1985, 220 pages, index, cloth, $12. |
The Royal Aquarium: Failure
of a Victorian Compromise
John M. Munro
When the Royal Aquarium
opened in London in 1876, with its exhibitions,
restaurants, art galleries, skating rink, reading rooms and
theater, it was planned to cater to those of refined taste.
But long before it closed its doors in 1903 it had
degenerated into a cross between a rowdy music-hall and
fairground, and few lamented its passing. While the great
international exhibition of 1851 serves as a convenient
symbol of the success of the Victorian period, the Royal
Aquarium is an equally potent symbol of its ultimate
failure.
English, 1971, 82 pages,
cloth, $4.
Rules and Regulations of
the Abbasid Court by Hilal al-Sabi
(Rusum Dar al-Khilafah)
Translated and annotated
by Elie A. Salem
This was the first
appearance of Rusum Dar-al-Khilafah in English. The
author, Hilal al-Sabi (359-488 AH/969-1056 AD) lived in
Baghdad under the Abbasids and witnessed their days of
glory. His book describes in a lucid and delightful manner
official court life and the rules of attendance followed at
the Abbasid Caliphal Residence. His keen observation is
matched by his eloquence in writing, so that the reader
sees court proceedings, the luxurious surroundings and the
elegance and pageantry of the Court at the time. Al-Sabi's
allusions and indirect references supplement the events
described and enrich our understanding of politics and
administration in the Abbasid period.
English, 1977, 144 pages,
4 plates, bibliography, index, cloth, $3..
Origins of Nationalism in Tunisia
Nicola A. Ziadeh
English, 1969, 167 pages, hardcover, $2
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