Middle Eastern history Books

Book SynopsisSufism and Early Islamic Piety: Personal and Communal Dynamicsoffers a new story about the formative period of Sufism. Through a fresh reading of diverse Sufi and non-Sufi sources, Arin Shawkat Salamah-Qudsi reveals the complexity of personal and communal aspects of Sufi piety in the period between the ninth and thirteenth centuries. Her study also sheds light on the interrelationships and conflicts of early Sufis through emphasising that early Sufism was neither a quietist or a completely individual mode of piety. Salamah-Qudsi reveals how the early Sufis'' commitment to the Islamic ideal of family life lead to different creative arrangements among them in order to avoid contradictions with this ideal and the mystical ideal of solitary life. Her book enables a deeper understanding of the development of Sufism in light of the human concerns and motivations of its founders.Trade Review'By expanding the scope of inquiry about the relationships of early Sufis beyond the celebrated shaykh-disciple bond, Sufism and Early Islamic Piety makes an undeniable contribution to scholarship on early Sufism. Among other achievements, Salamah-Qudsi highlights figures who have previously been marginalized in European-language scholarship, argues persuasively for the application of gen-der theory to early Sufi texts, and translates for the first time a great deal of material into English …' Jeremy Farrell, Journal of the American Oriental SocietyTable of ContentsPart I. Personal Narratives: Early Sufis and Family Ties: 1. Celibacy, marriage and familial commitments among early Sufis; 2. Female Sufis; 3. Maternal narratives: female Sufis as mothers; 4. Sufis as maternal uncles; Part II. Communal Narratives: Early Sufis' Modes of Operating in the Framework of Sufi Communal Lives: 5. Consensually acclaimed Sufis and lenient approaches; 6. Marginal piety: the case of Niffari; 7. Controversies and quarrel; 8. Companionship with youth (Suhbat al-Ahdath).

Read more less

Book SynopsisStates routinely and readily exploit the grey area between sentiments of national affinity and hegemonic emotions geared to nationalist aggression. In this book, Arshin Adib-Moghaddam focuses on the use of Iranian identity to offer a timely exploration into the psychological and political roots of national identity and how these are often utilised by governments from East to West. Examining this trend, both under the Shah as well as by the governments since the 1979 Iranian revolution, Adib-Moghaddam''s analysis is driven by what he terms ''psycho-nationalism'', a new concept derived from psychological dynamics in the making of nations. Through this, he demonstrates how nationalist ideas evolved in global history and their impact on questions of identity, statecraft and culture. Psycho-nationalism describes how a nation is made, sustained and ''sold'' to its citizenry and will interest students and scholars of Iranian culture and politics, world political history, nationalism studies aTrade Review'Sophisticated and innovative, Psycho-nationalism sheds new light on the persistent problem of nationalism. In what Arshin Adib-Moghaddam calls 'psycho-nationalism', the focus is less about, in reference to Ernest Gellner, a political principle with a homogenizing force, and more about disciplinary practices in shaping a cognitive regime of self and other, marked by policies of separation and political antagonism. However, as the case of Iran shows, such disciplinary mechanisms also involve sites of resistance, everyday defiances in redefining the state-society relations in the global era of (un)making nations. This is a book certain to generate discussion and have a major impact in cultural and socio-political studies.' Babak Rahimi, Director of the Program for the Study of Religion and Third World Studies, University of California, San DiegoTable of ContentsIntroduction: love and politics; 1. National hysteria: Roma o'Morte; 2. International hubris: Kings of Kings and Vicegerents of God; 3. Geographic dislocations: Iran is in India; 4. Religious neuroses: Islam and the people; 5. Un-national therapy: freedom and its discontents; 6. Sexing the nation: subversive trans-localities.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1076664 BCE) has been characterised previously by political and social changes based upon the introduction of Libyan social and cultural influences. In this book, James Bennett analyses the concepts of ''transition'' and ''continuity'' within the cultural and societal environment of Egypt during the Third Intermediate Period and provides an up-to-date synthesis of current research on the settlement archaeology of the period. This is done through the assessment of settlement patterns and their development, the built environment of the settlements, and their associated material culture. Through this analysis, Bennett identifies several interconnected themes within the culture and society of the Twenty-First to Twenty-Fifth Dynasties. They are closely related to the political and economic powers of different regions, the nucleation of settlements and people, self-sufficiency at a collective and individual level, defence, both physical and spiritual,Table of Contents1. Terminology and chronology; 2. Settlement patterns and land policy; 3. Settlement development and built remains of the Third Intermediate Period; 4. Domestic material culture of the Third Intermediate Period; 5. Conclusions: transition and continuity.

Read more less

Book SynopsisExamines how ideological and administrative crises within Islamic lands in the late fifteenth century brought about a new conception of kingship for the early modern period. Through Idris Bidlisi, a major intellectual and statesman, this book paints a picture of a changing Ottoman Empire: shifting from regional dynastic kingdom to global empire.Trade Review'This belongs among the best treatments that combine intellectual and sociopolitical history based on Islamic materials. Markiewicz's dense presentation of the life and work of Idris Bidlisi shows both how ideas matter for the conduct of politics and why they must be understood as responses to specific historical situations. The book is essential reading for scholars concerned with the Ottoman, Aqquyunlu, and Safavid empires as well as with Persian as a medium for historiography and the chancery.' Shahzad Bashir, Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Humanities, Brown University, Rhode Island'A masterly study, deeply researched, many-layered and carefully nuanced. Markiewicz offers keen insights into a little known scholarly and philosophical world, and widens the scope of debate about the Ottoman self-image in the crucial era after 1517. Approaching the topic through the thought and influence of Idris Bidlisi makes a potentially impenetrable mass of esoteric thought clearly accessible to modern researchers.' Christine Woodhead, Honorary Fellow of Ottoman History, University of Durham'This is an old-school monograph in the of best ways; it is extremely focused and necessary reading for experts in the field.' R. A. Miller, Choice'… an admirable biography of a major scholar and scribe as well as a rich study of intellectual activity in the 15th–century and 16th–century … makes important contributions to Islamic political thought, as well as to the nexus between patronage, literary culture, and intellectual output, especially in historical writing. It is also an excellent biography.' Ethan L. Menchinger, International Journal of Middle East Studies'Markiewicz's reworking of his PhD thesis has produced a book that is complex in its ideas and argument, beautifully structured, written in clear and well-signposted prose, and cleanly produced in the Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization series.' Amy Singer, SpeculumTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part I: 1. The realm of generation and decay: Bidlisi in Iran, 1457–1502; 2. Patronage and place among the Ottomans: Bidlisi and the Court of Bayezid II, 1502–1511; 3. The return East (1511–1520); Part II: 4. The Timurid vocabulary of sovereignty; 5. The canons of conventional histories; 6. Ottoman sovereignty on the cusp of Universal Empire; Conclusion.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the secret world of spies and covert operations, no other intelligence service continues to be as surrounded by myth and mystery as the Mossad. Gordon Thomas reveals that all too often the truth exceeds all the fantasies about the Mossad. Revised and updated for 2015, this new edition includes: - Mossad''s secret meeting in 2013 with Saudi Arabia''s intelligence chief to plan for Israel to use Saudi to attack Iran should the Geneva discussion fail to be honored by Iran.- The attack on Iraq''s nuclear reactor that will be the flight path to an attack on Iran''s nuclear facilities.- Mossad''s new cyber-war unit preparing to launch its own pre-emptive strike.- Why Mossad''s former director, Meir Dagan, has spoken out against an attack on Iran.- Mossad agents who operate in the Dark Side of the internet to track terrorists.- Mossad''s drone and its first killing.- Mossad''s role in the defense of Israel''s Embassy in Cairo during the Arab Spring.-

Read more less

Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE 2024 PULITZER PRIZE FOR GENERAL NON-FICTIONNamed a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, The Economist, Time, The New Republic, and the Financial Times.Immersive and gripping, an intimate story of a deadly accident outside Jerusalem that unravels a tangle of lives, loves, enmities, and histories over the course of one revealing, heartbreaking day.Five-year-old Milad Salama is excited for a school trip to a theme park on the outskirts of Jerusalem. On the way, his bus collides with a semitrailer. His father, Abed, gets word of the crash and rushes to the site. The scene is chaosthe children have been taken to different hospitals in Jerusalem and the West Bank; some are missing, others cannot be identified. Abed sets off on an odyssey to learn Milad's fate. It is every parent's worst nightmare, but for Abed it is compounded by the maze of physical, emotional, and bureaucratic

Read more less