Middle Eastern history Books
Cambridge University Press Creating Local Democracy in Iran
Book SynopsisEmpirically rich and theoretically informed, this book is an innovative analysis of political decentralization under the Islamic Republic of Iran. Drawing upon Kian Tajbakhsh''s twenty years of experience working with and researching local government in Iran, it uses original data and insights to explain how local government operates in towns and cities as a form of electoral authoritarianism. With a combination of historical, political, and financial field research, it explores the multifaceted dimensions of local power and how various ideologically opposed actors shaped local government as an integral component of authoritarian state building. Ultimately, this book demonstrates how local government serves to undermine democratization and consolidate the Islamist regime. As Iran''s cities and towns grow and develop, their significance will only increase, and this study is vital to understanding their politics, administration and influence.Trade Review'Kian Tajbakhsh's study of local government under the Islamic Republic of Iran is based on careful and painstaking analysis of administrative and legal documents and is unmatched by any in current Iranian history.' Saïd Amir Arjomand, State University of New York'This deeply personal and academically rigorous account of the efforts to advance political decentralization in Iran raises critical questions for scholars of governance and democracy. By documenting how decentralization was as likely to be embraced by supporters of centralized state power as by reform advocates or even pragmatic technocrats, we are shown the complexities inherent in building democracy from the ground up.' Diane E. Davis, Harvard University'Kian Tajbakhsh's understanding of Iran is manifest on every page of this book. He convincingly argues, much to his own discontent, how the authoritarian regime consolidates its rule through political decentralization. His work is important for anyone interested in local democracy – a powerful read.' Peter Knip, Director of VNG International'Kian Tajbakhsh beautifully documents the tragedy of municipal democracy in Iran, from its hopeful beginnings in the mid-1990s to its defeat a decade later. Tajbakhsh was both a scholarly observer of the democratization movement and a participant, whose detention in Iran delayed this long-awaited book for years.' Charles Kurzman, University of North CarolinaTable of ContentsPreface; Overview; Part I. Launching Local Democracy: 1. Reshaping the state: political decentralization comes to Iran in the 1990s: 2. Launching municipal government, 1999-2003; Part II. Arguing for Local Democracy: 3. Reformists, local democracy and civil society: socio-political discourses; 4. Efficiency in governance: technocratic discourse; 5. The theocratic and Islamist discourse on the shura; Part III. Blocking Local Democracy: 6. The rocky path from elections to democracy; 7. City planning and the challenges of democractic governance; 8. Financing local democracy; 9. Geopolitics and the limits of international municipal cooperation; 10. What of the future of local democracy.
£71.25
Cambridge University Press The State of Resistance
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£22.99
Cambridge University Press The State of Resistance
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£66.49
Cambridge University Press Petroleum and Progress in Iran
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£71.25
Cambridge University Press A Dynastic History of Iran
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£66.49
Cambridge University Press PreIslamic Arabia
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£80.75
Cambridge University Press The Ottoman Ibadis of Cairo
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£80.75
Cambridge University Press Fatwa and the Making and Renewal of Islamic Law
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£80.75
Cambridge University Press Biblical Heroes and Classical Culture in Christian Late Antiquity
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£85.50
Cambridge University Press Monastic Economies in Late Antique Egypt and Palestine
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£95.00
Cambridge University Press Sectarianism in Islam
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£22.99
Cambridge University Press The Making of Persianate Modernity
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£80.75
Cambridge University Press Making and Remaking Empire in Early Qajar Iran
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£95.00
Cambridge University Press Righteous Politics
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£76.00
Cambridge University Press Righteous Politics
Book SynopsisSince the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, the Iranian political system has been subject to diminishing legitimacy. In recent years, various waves of protest have spread across the country and the question of the resilience of the revolutionary state becomes more pressing by the day. Drawing from extensive fieldwork and rare primary sources, Mehran Kamrava provides here a comprehensive and accessible analysis of the Iranian state and the various formal and informal institutions through which it operates. The book offers an in-depth analysis of the Iranian state, from the Constitution to the powers and offices of the Supreme Leader, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to the several intelligence agencies. Paying careful attention to the nuances of Iranian politics, Kamrava also highlights how factional politics and rentierism have served to enhance state resilience. Presenting a range of original insights, this book is invaluable to understanding the inner workings of the contemporary Iranian state.Table of Contents1. Introduction; 2. Authoritarian perseverance; 3. Ruling under stress; 4. The constitution, elections, & legitimacy; 5. Elected representatives; 6. The unelected leadership; 7. The praetorians; 8. Maintaining the system; 9. The deep state; 10. Intra-Elite dynamics; 11. The state and its riches; 12. Conclusion.
£25.64
Cambridge University Press The New Israelis
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£76.50
Cambridge University Press Mechanisms of Social Dependency in the Early Islamic Empire
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£112.50
Cambridge University Press Feminist Theology and Social Justice in Islam
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£80.75
Cambridge University Press Zionism
Book SynopsisIs the history of emotions a methodology or a subject? What is the relationship between emotions and culture? What role does the body play in the human experience? Addressing these questions and more, this element emphasizes the often-overlooked role of emotional and sensory experiences when examining the Zionist experience in the early twentieth century. Focusing on the visceral and embodied historical aspects of the linguistic modernization of Hebrew, it argues that recent cultural studies on Jewish daily life in Palestine have reached an impasse, which the history of emotions could help us overcome. Interpreting Zionist texts not solely as symbolic myths but as a historical, lived experience, this element advocates for the significance of the history of emotions and experience as an innovative methodology with profound ethical implications for our polarized era.
£17.00
Cambridge University Press How Islam Rules in Iran
£72.00
Cambridge University Press How Islam Rules in Iran
Book SynopsisFocusing on the jurisprudential and ideological foundations of the Islamic Republic state, this book explores the relationship between Islam and politics in postrevolutionary Iran. It can be read at several levels, from informed observers and specialists to readers interested in Islamic studies, state-religion relations, and Shia jurisprudence.
£28.49
Cambridge University Press Polluted Politics
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£76.50
Cambridge University Press Zionism
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£47.49
Cambridge University Press The Last Caravan
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£81.00
Cambridge University Press Against Moab
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£47.49
Cambridge University Press Nostalgia in Late Pahlavi Iran
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£90.00
Cambridge University Press Poetic Desire and Literary Thievery
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£26.60
Cambridge University Press Poetic Desire and Literary Thievery
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£81.00
Cambridge University Press Israel and its Heirs in Late Antiquity
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£47.49
Cambridge University Press Myth Text and Image in Ancient Mesopotamia
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£99.00
Cambridge University Press Boundaries of Belonging
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£99.00
Cambridge University Press State Matters
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£85.50
Cambridge University Press Syrian Intellectuals in Exile
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£85.50
Cambridge University Press The Origins of the Shia
Book SynopsisThis book explores the birth and development of Shi'i identity. Through a critical analysis of legal texts, whose provenance has only recently been confirmed, the study shows how the early Shi'a carved out independent religious and social identities through specific ritual practices and within separate sacred spaces.Trade Review'Haider's study makes an important and much-needed contribution to the study of the origins of Imâmî and Zaydî Shiʿism as independent branches of Islam. Through his analysis of ritual practice, the legality of intoxicating drinks, and the emergence of distinct ritual locations, Haider produces a compelling case for the central role of legal discursive analysis of Kûfan ḥadîth in the articulation of Imâmî and Zaydî Shiʿi religious, political, and social identities. The Origins of the Shîʿa will be of interest to many in the fields of Islamic history, ritual studies, and law, and [Haider's] extensive use of charts to organize and explain his data and highly structured chapters make this complex historical data readable …' Karen G. Ruffle, Journal of the American Oriental Society'This study provides a significant contribution to the fields of Shīʿi studies, Islamic law and early history of Islam, but perhaps mostly to ḥadīth studies. Haider successfully implements a new method on Muslim traditions and reaches ground-breaking conclusions regarding the origins of early Shīʿism.' Seyfeddin Kara, Ilahiyat Studies: A Journal on Islamic and Religious StudiesTable of ContentsPart I. Narratives and Methods: 1. Kufa and the classical narratives of early Shi'ism; 2. Confronting the source barrier: a new methodology; Part II. Case Studies: 3. In the name of God: the Basmala; 4. Curses and invocations: the Qunūt in the ritual prayer; 5. Drinking matters: the Islamic debate over prohibition; Part III. The Emergence of Shi'ism: 6. Dating sectarianism: early Zaydism and the politics of perpetual revolution; 7. The problem of the ambiguous transmitter: ritual and the allocation of identity; 8. The mosque and the procession: sacred spaces and the construction of community; 9. Conclusion.
£85.50
Cambridge University Press Universal Empire A Comparative Approach to Imperial Culture and Representation in Eurasian History
Book SynopsisThe claim by certain rulers to universal empire has a long history stretching as far back as the Assyrian and Achaemenid Empires. This book traces its various manifestations in classical antiquity, the Islamic world, Asia and Central America as well as considering seventeenth- and eighteenth-century European discussions of international order.Trade Review'… this volume has much to offer to ancient historians.' Rolf Strootman, Bryn Mawr Classical ReviewTable of Contents1. 'Elephant of India' - universal empire through time and across cultures Peter Fibiger Bang with Dariusz Kołodziejczyk; Part I. Eurasia - Antiquity till Early Modernity: 2. Propaganda and practice in Assyrian and Persian imperial culture Gojko Barjamovic; 3. Between Aśoka and Antiochos - an essay in world history on universal kingship and cosmopolitan culture in the Hellenistic ecumene Peter Fibiger Bang; 4. The making of Oriental Rome: shaping the Trojan legend Rolf Michael Schneider; 5. Pseudo-Aristotelian politics and theology in universal Islam Garth Fowden; 6. The Christian imperial tradition, Greek and Latin Judith Herrin and Dimiter Angelov; 7. Khan, Caliph, Tsar and Imperator: the multiple identities of the Ottoman Sultan Dariusz Kołodziejczyk; 8. How the Mughal Padshahs referenced Iran in their visual construction of universal rule Ebba Koch; 9. Ideologies of state building in Vijayanagara and Post-Vijayanagara South India: some reflections Velcheru Narayana Rao and Sanjay Subrahmanyam; 10. Sons of Heaven: the Qing appropriation of the Chinese model of universal empire Evelyn S. Rawski; Part II. Contrasting Universalisms - Old and New World: 11. Aztec universalism: ideology and status symbols in the service of empire-building Justyna Olko; 12. From empire to Commonwealth(s) - orders in Europe, 1300–1800 Peter Haldén; 13. Imperial universalism - further thoughts John A. Hall.
£99.75
Cambridge University Press The Russian Conquest of Central Asia
Book SynopsisRussia's conquest of Central Asia was perhaps the nineteenth century's most dramatic and successful example of European imperial expansion. Alexander Morrison provides a definitive diplomatic and military history, explaining how and why a vast region of steppe, desert, mountain and oasis, mainly populated by Muslims, came under Russian rule.Trade Review'In a masterful work of history and historiography, Morrison demolishes the 'Great Game' story of Russia's expansion, so entrenched in English language scholarship. His long-duree account of Russia's Central Asia conquests offers compelling narrative, deep dives into camels and weapons, and comparisons of battles and encounters from the pens of Central Asian participants and observers as well as the far more abundant Russian accounts.' Marianne Kamp, Indiana University'This wonderfully intelligent, original and well-written book is based on years of meticulous research conducted in many languages in archives across Eurasia, some of them previously almost inaccessible to foreign historians. Not only does it offer unique insights into the thinking of Russian policy-makers, it also adds crucially to our understanding of nineteenth-century European imperialism. This work should transform the Anglophone world's understanding of the 'Great Game'.' Dominic Lieven, University of Cambridge'The Russian Conquest of Central Asia is a major work. Based on the supreme command of a large body of material, scattered across a dozen archives between present-day Russia, Uzbekistan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, Morrison's book is destined to have a deep and long-term impact on the field of Russian imperial history, the comparative history of colonialism in Asia, and Central Asian history.' Paolo Sartori, Austrian Academy of Sciences'Alexander Morrison's The Russian Conquest of Central Asia provides a detailed and comprehensive account of how and why the Russians came to conquer this vast territory in the century between the end of the Napoleonic Wars and 1914.' Daniel Beer, Times Literary Supplement'The book delivers a comprehensive and much-needed analysis of the conquest of Central Asia and its place in the history of nineteenth-century global expansions.' Malika Zekhni, War in History Book Reviews'The book should become the standard work on the subject and take a prominent place in the literature on Russian imperial and military history.' Andrew Monaghan, RUSI Journal'Alexander Morrison has exploded the myth of the great game in his seminal study largely because of his long term research in archives in Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, and India. In addition, he comprehensively works through the myriad of published memoirs, official published sources, and a broad range of secondary works which taken together has resulted in a meticulously researched study of the long campaign the Russians undertook to conquer and colonise Central Asia in the 19th century.' John W. Steinberg, War and Society'Recommended.' M. Chakars, Choice Connect'[Morrison] is to be highly commended for this work of scholarship, which is essential reading not only for those with a serious interest in Central Asia, but also for those inclined to offer their commentary, expert or otherwise, on Russian foreign policy today.' Sophie Ibbotson, Asian Affairs'No one who seriously wants to concern themselves with the history of relations between Russia and Central Asia will be able to do without this standard work.' Beate Eschment, Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas'In his splendid new history, The Russian Conquest of Central Asia, Alexander Morrison firmly rebuts the notion of the Great Game - that tsarist imperial expansion into the region was driven by a desire to expel Albion from South Asia. Indeed, if most previous books about the topic tended to ascribe the conquest to a single motive, Morrison wisely avoids a monocausal explanation … Taking full advantage of freer access in the post-Soviet era, Morrison spent ten years in nearly a dozen archives throughout the former Russian Empire, as well as collections in London, Amsterdam, and Delhi. Together with a bibliography of well over 1,000 published primary and secondary sources, The Russian Conquest of Central Asia is by far the most thoroughly documented study in any language.' David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History'Morrison's work reveals the momentous hubris of a great power that not only was able but also felt entitled by its own military strength to conquer, subjugate and rule over others.' Moritz Florin, Historische Zeitschrift'In this magisterial and much-anticipated book, Alexander Morrison aims to create a new narrative of the tsarist conquest of Central Asia, to escape the shackles of the extant historiography by dint of deep empirical research. Eschewing overarching explanations in favour of a series of microhistories in which the particularities of environment and personality come to the fore, he succeeds admirably in his task.' Ian Campbell, Ab Imperio'a superbly well-done military history … This study will be the definitive source on the conquest for at least another generation.' Shoshana Keller, Russian ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Russia's steppe frontier and the Napoleonic generation; 2. 'Pray for the camels': the winter invasion of Khiva, 1839–1841; 3. 'This particularly painful place': the failure of the Syr-Darya line as a frontier, 1841–1863; 4. From Ayaguz to Almaty: the conquest and settlement of Semirechie, 1843–1882; 5. The search for a 'natural' frontier and the fall of Tashkent, 1863–1865; 6. War with Bukhara, 1866–1868; 7. The fall of Khiva, 1872–1873; 8. 'Those who should be spared': the conquest of Ferghana, 1875–1876; 9. 'The harder you hit them, the longer they will be quiet afterwards': the conquest of Transcaspia, 1869–1885; 10. Aryanism on the final frontier of the Russian empire: the exploration and annexation of the Pamirs, 1881–1905; Epilogue: after the conquest.
£75.99
Cambridge University Press Architecture and Ritual in the Churches of Constantinople
Book SynopsisThis book examines the interchange of architecture and ritual in the Middle and Late Byzantine churches of Constantinople (ninth to fifteenth centuries).Table of Contents1. Liturgical ritual: the shape and development of the Byzantine rite; 2. The sanctuary and the templon; 3. The naos; 4. The narthex and the exonarthex; 5. Subsidiary spaces: chapels, outer ambulatories, outer aisles, crypts, atria, and related spaces; 6. Non-liturgical use of churches; Appendix: catalogue of churches; Glossary of terms.
£86.44
Cambridge University Press War and Memory in Lebanon
Book SynopsisFrom 1975 to 1990, Lebanon endured one of the most protracted and bloody civil wars of the twentieth century. Sune Haugbolle's often poignant book chronicles the battle over ideas that emerged from the wreckage of that war.Trade Review'With great analytical skill, Haugbolle presents a fascinating account of the different ways in which the Lebanese remember their civil wars in opposition to an official stance that, far from seeking truth and reconciliation, attempts to distort the memories and even obliterate them from popular culture.' Michael Johnson, Former Dean of Social Sciences at the University of Sussex and the author of All Honourable Men: The Social Origins of War in LebanonTable of ContentsPrologue: a hiatus of history; 1. Remembering a war of selves and others; 2. Culture, politics, civil war; 3. Discourses on amnesia and reconstruction: memory in the 1990s; 4. Nostalgias; 5. Inside violence; 6. Sectarian memory cultures; 7. Truth telling in the Independence Intifada; Conclusion.
£29.44
Cambridge University Press Women and Slavery in the Late Ottoman Empire The Design Of Difference Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization
Book SynopsisMadeline C. Zilfi's book examines gender politics through slavery and social regulation in the Ottoman Empire. In a challenge to prevailing notions, her research shows that throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries female slavery was not only central to Ottoman practice, but a critical component of imperial governance and elite social reproduction. As Zilfi illustrates through her graphic accounts of the humiliations and sufferings endured by these women at the hands of their owners, Ottoman slavery was often as cruel as its Western counterpart. The book focuses on the experience of slavery in the Ottoman capital of Istanbul, also using comparative data from Egypt and North Africa to illustrate the regional diversity and local dynamics that were the hallmarks of slavery in the Middle East during the early modern era. This is an articulate and informed account that sets more general debates on women and slavery in the Ottoman context.Trade ReviewReview of the hardback: 'Madeline Zilfi's book examines gender politics through slavery and social regulation in the Ottoman Empire. Her research shows that, throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, female slavery was not only central to Ottoman practice but also a critical component of imperial governance and elite social reproduction.' The Middle EastReview of the hardback: '… all specialized libraries and historians of the Ottoman Empire, and those working in Enslavement Studies should definitely own it; and the author should be commended on her accomplished and valuable work.' Insight Turkey'Zilfi's masterful new work creates space for debate on the topic of women, slavery and the gender hierarchy in the late Ottoman Empire … This contribution will undoubtedly shape the nature of research into slavery in the Ottoman Empire, and represents a major work in the burgeoning field of Ottoman slavery studies. Furthermore, to its great credit, this book contains an excellent bibliography which gathers the secondary studies on slavery in the Middle East and its immediate geographical proximity as well as the relevant methodological literature. It will be a boon for future scholars of slavery in the Ottoman Empire.' Nur Sobers-Khan, New Middle Eastern StudiesTable of ContentsList of illustrations; 1. Empire and imperium; 2. Currents of change; 3. Women and the regulated society; 4. Telling the Ottoman slave story; 5. Meaning and practice; 6. Feminizing slavery; 7. Men are kanun, women are shari'ah.
£33.24
Cambridge University Press The Origins of the Sh a
This book explores the birth and development of Shi'i identity. Through a critical analysis of legal texts, whose provenance has only recently been confirmed, the study shows how the early Shi'a carved out independent religious and social identities through specific ritual practices and within separate sacred spaces.
£25.64
Cambridge University Press Behind the 1953 Coup in Iran
Book SynopsisThis book meticulously reconstructs the 1953 Iranian coup d'état that led to the overthrow of Mohammed Mosaddeq and his government. Mosaddeq's removal from power has attracted more attention than any other event during his tenure because of the foreign involvement, the political, economic and social impact on Iran, and the long-term impact the ousting had on Iran-US relations.Trade Review'Ali Rahnema's new book on the 1953 coup presents a comprehensive, balanced account of this seminal event. It is meticulously researched, carefully reasoned and engagingly written. It will stand as the definitive work on this subject for many years to come.' Mark Gasiorowski, Tulane University, Louisiana'Behind the 1953 Coup in Iran offers an in-depth and detailed examination of the events leading to the 1953 coup in Iran. By exploring a broad range of primary and archival sources it makes original contributions to current debates on the ouster of Mosaddeq.' Ali Gheissari, University of San Diego'This extraordinarily impressive study has moved the historiography of the most controversial event in modern Iranian history onto an altogether different plane. In a forensic analysis of four critical days, the actions and motives of the main perpetrators, including for the first time army officers, power brokers, and mobsters, are laid bare in compelling detail.' John Gurney, Wadham College, Oxford'Based on far-ranging Iranian, British, and American archival sources, Behind the 1953 Coup in Iran is an indispensable and fair-minded account of the clandestine operations that overthrew the legal government of Mohammed Mosaddeq. It studies Mosaddeq's own ethical and economic dilemmas as well as the calculations of British and American intelligence agents. Not least it includes a clear chronological table, biographical notes and detailed maps, which will establish it as a work of reference. Above all, it assesses the consequences for the Iranian people and the way in which Mosaddeq's fate has engaged generations of historians.' Wm. Roger Louis, University of TexasTable of ContentsIntroduction: Mosaddeq's overthrow according to the shah; 1. The British reaction to Mosaddeq in power: 'Mossie Grabs Britain's Oil - But Navy to the Rescue' (Daily Express); 2. Mosaddeq's opposition strikes: testing tactics; 3. Who beckoned and who executed on 28 February (9 Esfand); 4. TPAJAX: company (CIA) commanders and firm (SIS) functionaries operationalising the coup; 5. The CIA-affiliated organisations: propaganda and combat; 6. The precision coup flops: back to the drawing board; 7. Second coup and capabilities of the military network; 8. A viable homespun coup; 9. The crucial last-minute preparations; 10. The second coup begins with the pincer movement of the thugs; 11. Coup agents occupying the city centre; 12. Attacking ministries and pro-Mosaddeq buildings; 13. The enigma of the tanks: betrayal or incompetence; 14. Mosaddeq overthrown; 15. Religious representatives and the coup; 16. Why did the second coup succeed?; 17. Mosaddeq's exit: legal transfer of power or coup d'état; Conclusion.
£31.90
Cambridge University Press Doubt in Islamic Law
Book SynopsisThrough a close examination of legal, historical, and theological sources, this book considers a largely neglected area of Islamic law, calling into question a controversial popular notion about Islamic law today, which is that Islamic law is a divine legal tradition that has little room for discretion or doubt, particularly in Islamic criminal law.Trade Review'In her extremely detailed book, Intisar A. Rabb traces the formation of the legal maxim of doubt in Islamic criminal law from the seventh until the eleventh century (CE) within both the Sunni and Shi'i legal traditions … Rabb's book offers an important contribution to the study of Islamic law. She has shown how the Muslim legal elite, even the eponymous Sunni jurists and their immediate successors, were individual human agents with a pragmatic bent, and as such their juridical thinking was shaped by complex and diverse goals such that they never arrived at a uniform definition of doubt. Neither did they limit themselves to a specific canon of 'texts' in order to develop an increasingly sophisticated jurisprudence of doubt by the eleventh century.' Nurfadzilah Yahaya, Society for Contemporary Thought and the Islamicate World Review'Even for aficionados of progressive legal interpretation who only dabble in Islamic legal theory, among whom this reviewer is most certainly included, the 'closing of the gates of ijtihād' is a concept that is known and, for the most part, feared - but Rabb puts a new spin on that understanding.' M. Christian Green, Journal of Law and ReligionTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. Institutional Structures and Doubt, Seventh–Sixteenth Century CE: 1. The God of severity and lenity; 2. The rise of doubt; Part II. Morality and Social Context, Eighth–Eleventh Century CE: 3. Hierarchy and hudud laws, eighth–ninth century CE; 4. Doubt as moral discomfort, tenth–eleventh century CE; Part III. The Jurisprudence of Doubt, Eighth–Sixteenth Century CE: 5. Doubt as an element of Islamic criminal law, eighth–eleventh century CE; 6. Substantive, procedural, and interpretive doubt, eleventh–sixteenth century CE; 7. Strict textualism as a limitation on doubt: Sunni opponents, eighth–eleventh century CE; 8. Dueling theories of delegation and interpretation: Shi'i doubt, tenth–sixteenth century CE; Conclusion: doubt in comparative and contemporary context.
£29.44
Cambridge University Press Mapping the Ottomans
Book SynopsisSimple paradigms of Muslim-Christian confrontation and the rise of Europe in the seventeenth century do not suffice to explain the ways in which European mapping envisioned the ''Turks'' in image and narrative. Rather, maps, travel accounts, compendia of knowledge, and other texts created a picture of the Ottoman Empire through a complex layering of history, ethnography, and eyewitness testimony, which juxtaposed current events to classical and biblical history; counted space in terms of peoples, routes, and fortresses; and used the land and seascapes of the map to assert ownership, declare victory, and embody imperial power''s reach. Enriched throughout by examples of Ottoman self-mapping, this book examines how Ottomans and their empire were mapped in the narrative and visual imagination of early modern Europe''s Christian kingdoms. The maps serve as centerpieces for discussions of early modern space, time, borders, stages of travel, information flows, invocations of authority, and cTrade Review'In this well-documented and richly illustrated narrative, Palmira Brummett envisions the European obsession with the Turk as an imagined space serving as a canvas for the sacred, warlike and quotidian impressions of historians and travelers alike. Tracing the accumulation of a remarkable body of information, Brummett describes the production of a chain of authorities, ancient and contemporary, in the cultural construction of pre-1800 Europe.' Virginia Aksan, McMaster University, Ontario'Mapping the Ottomans is the triumphant conclusion of Palmira Brummett's innovative work on the early modern Ottoman Empire over more than three decades. I have no doubt that as both a model of scholarship and a passionately engaged critique of many of the west's assumptions about early Islamic empires, Brummett's book will come to redefine the next generation's approach to the study of the Ottomans. Anyone interested in our current geopolitical dilemmas should read it.' Jerry Brotton, Queen Mary, University of London, author of A History of the World in Twelve Maps'Moving beyond the simple cataloguing of European images of the Ottoman other that has characterized previous scholarship, Palmira Brummett shows the nuanced and diverse range of European responses to the Ottomans, as well as illustrating Ottoman self-mapping practices and the ways in which both emerged from a set of shared precedents and fit into a common early modern cartographic culture. Mapping the Ottomans is an essential addition to the rich body of literature on early modern maps, as well as to our growing understanding of the complex and interconnected character of early modern European and the Mediterranean worlds.' Eric Dursteler, Brigham Young University'This lavishly illustrated volume opens up the world of European perceptions, portrayal and cultural imagination of the Ottomans. Breaking away from the religious divide and military enemy motifs, Palmira Brummett presents a much more realistic and complex vision of osmosis, permeability, and shared societies in a book which is a true pleasure to read.' Kate Fleet, Director of the Skilliter Centre for Ottoman Studies and Fellow of Newnham College, University of Cambridge'Palmira Brummett's nuanced account goes well beyond cartography to provide a rich history of how Western Europe viewed Ottoman space. This illuminating study demonstrates how texts and maps together shaped an imaginary of the borderlines between Asia and Europe, Islam, and Christianity. Brummett's focus on perceptions of space renders the maps she discusses as richly layered and interconnected objects, fully embedded in broader rhetorical, iconographic, and historiographic traditions.' Barbara Fuchs, University of California, Los Angeles'In this comprehensive study of written and pictorial descriptions of the Ottoman state and its borderlands, Palmira Brummett gathers several of the most important strands of recent scholarship on the early modern world. This authoritative book is characterized by increasing recognition of the enmeshment of material and intellectual cultures in Christian and Muslim lands, reconfiguration of knowledge of the 'east' that eschews the stultifying rubric of orientalism, and reliance on maps as historical archives and powerful metaphors for picturing spaces and their inhabitants.' Sean Roberts, American Historical ReviewTable of Contents1. Introduction: mapping empire and 'Turks' on the map; 2. Reading and placing the 'Turk'; 3. Borders: the edge of Europe, the ends of empire, and the redemption of Christendom; 4. Sovereign space: the fortress as marker of possession; 5. Heads and skins: mapping the fallen Turk; 6. From Venice and Vienna to Istanbul: the travel space between Christendom and Islam; 7. Authority, travel, and the map; 8. Afterword: mapping the fault lines of empire and nation.
£36.87
Cambridge University Press Britains Pacification of Palestine
Book SynopsisIn this complete military history of Britain''s pacification of the Arab revolt in Palestine, Matthew Hughes shows how the British Army was so devastatingly effective against colonial rebellion. The Army had a long tradition of pacification to draw upon to support operations, underpinned by the creation of an emergency colonial state in Palestine. After conquering Palestine in 1917, the British established a civil Government that ruled by proclamation and, without any local legislature, the colonial authorities codified in law norms of collective punishment that the Army used in 1936. The Army used ''lawfare'', emergency legislation enabled by the colonial state, to grind out the rebellion. Soldiers with support from the RAF launched kinetic operations to search and destroy rebel bands, alongside which the villagers on whom the rebels depended were subjected to curfews, fines, detention, punitive searches, demolitions and reprisals. Rebels were disorganised and unable to withstand the power of such pacification measures.Trade Review'Matthew Hughes's ground-breaking study of Britain's repression of the Arab rebellion in Palestine in the 1930s is an outstanding military history of British colonial pacification methods. It details how Britain's colonial emergency state successfully integrated draconian legal measures with the British Army's long traditions of counter-insurgency to pacify Palestine and crush a rebellion that, as Hughes proves, lacked the internal strength to counter the power of the British Empire.' Yigal Sheffy, author of British Intelligence in the Palestine Campaign, 1914–1918'While Europe marched to war in the late 1930s, a formative episode in the struggle for self-determination played out in Palestine. Drawing on a formidable array of sources, Matthew Hughes dissects the Arab Revolt with a keen eye for the broader political, social and legal contexts which shaped strategy. This book is a major addition to our knowledge of the British Army, colonial violence, and the modern Middle East.” Huw Bennett, author of Fighting the Mau Mau'Admirably suited for the specialist as well as the general reader this book provides an exhaustively researched account of the British Army's pacification of Palestine, 1936–1939. Based on Hebrew, Arabic, French and British sources, Hughes does not ignore the suffering of ordinary Palestinians as the British Army sought to suppress what he views as rural peasant-based revolt. Highly recommended.' David R. Woodward, author of The Holy Land: World War 1 in the Middle East'… this is one of the most important and comprehensive accounts of the Arab revolt yet to appear in print.' Roger Hardy, International Affairs'Meticulously researched, this book will serve as an important source of detailed information about the Arab Revolt.' Colin Shindler, Jewish Historical Studies'This book will be indispensable for researchers of the British Mandate in Palestine … The amount of research put into this volume is truly outstanding … and its analysis seem to be the culmination of a decade's work and provides a required reference for future researchers to follow.' Giora Goodman, Journal of Contemporary History'… a book sure to become the definitive account of British counterinsurgency in the Mandate.' Martin Thomas, The American Historical ReviewTable of ContentsList of Illustrations; 1. Framing the Arab Revolt; 2. The emergency state in mandate Palestine; 3. Rebels and revolt; 4. From insurgency to banditry; 5. The regiments arrive; 6. Screwing down the population; 7. Intelligence and collaboration; 8. Dirty wars and extra-judicial violence; Afterword: policy, violence, and the Arab revolt; Appendix A: order-of-battle; Appendix B: casualties; Appendix C: women and violence; Appendix D: sartorial wars; Appendix E: dramatis personae and the Arab Higher Committee; Appendix F: currency and wages; Appendix G: the escapes of al-Qawuqji and Hajj Amin; Bibliography; Index.
£39.89
Cambridge University Press Muhammads Heirs
Book SynopsisMuslim scholars are a vital part of Islam, and are sometimes considered ''heirs to the prophets'', continuing Muhammad''s work of establishing Islam in the centuries after his death. But this was not always the case: indeed, Muslims survived the turmoil of their first century largely without the help of scholars. In this book, Jonathan Brockopp seeks to determine the nature of Muslim scholarly communities and to account for their emergence from the very beginning of the Muslim story until the mid-tenth century. By analysing coins, papyri and Arabic literary manuscripts from the ancient mosque-library of Kairouan, Tunisia, Brockopp offers a new interpretation of Muslim scholars'' rise to positions of power and influence, serving as moral guides and the chief arbiters of Muslim tradition. This book will be of great benefit to scholars of comparative religion and advanced students in Middle Eastern history, Islamic Studies, Islamic Law and early Islamic literature.Trade Review'Jonathan Brockopp is an extraordinary scholar and Muhammad's Heirs is an extraordinary work of scholarship. It helps us to better understand the early development of Islam, and the key relationships between Muslims, Jews and Christians in that development.' Amir Hussain, Department of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Foundations, 622–680; 2. Integration of the proto-scholar, 680–750; 3. Rise of the Muslim scholar, 750–820; 4. Scholarship and the literary turn, 820–875; 5. Mature scholarly community of Kairouan, 875–950; Conclusion; Appendix.
£31.90
Cambridge University Press The Chief Eunuch of the Ottoman Harem
Book SynopsisEunuchs were a common feature of pre- and early modern societies that are now poorly understood. Here, Jane Hathaway offers an in-depth study of the chief of the African eunuchs who guarded the harem of the Ottoman Empire. A wide range of primary sources are used to analyze the Chief Eunuch''s origins in East Africa and his political, economic, and religious role from the inception of his office in the late sixteenth century through the dismantling of the palace harem in the early twentieth century. Hathaway highlights the origins of the institution and how the role of eunuchs developed in East Africa, as well as exploring the Chief Eunuch''s connections to Egypt and Medina. By tracing the evolution of the office, we see how the Chief Eunuch''s functions changed in response to transformations in Ottoman society, from the generalized crisis of the seventeenth century to the westernizing reforms of the nineteenth century.Trade Review'Building on an impressive body of work on Ottoman Egypt and the Arab lands, and on the formidable early eighteenth-century Chief Harem Eunuch el-Hajj Beşir Agha, Jane Hathaway focuses here on the careers of these eunuchs and how the office evolved over time. She deftly brings her subjects out of the shadows to reveal the geographic and functional reach of their interests, which oscillated between the poles of Istanbul and Cairo, but also extended from guardianship of the Prophet's tomb to protection of the grain trade on the Danube. Hathaway has written a work with a strong narrative thread that is at once scholarly and accessible. Her careful research allows the Chief Harem Eunuchs to take their place in the constellation of Ottoman power and demonstrates that, as she writes,'the imperial household could not function without eunuchs, and vice versa'.' Caroline Finkel, author of Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire'Long accustomed to despise palace intrigues and the people that used to spin them in the past, we usually prefer to forget the enormous role that 'the backstairs of power' play in our own time. Now Jane Hathaway's wide-ranging and fascinating account shows how eunuchs from East Africa came into the Ottoman palace and how sultans and courtiers elevated or destroyed them for reasons of their own. This study portrays these men as real people, trying to make a place for themselves in an unfamiliar world, to which they had not come of their own volition. Hathaway shows how by clever alliance-building, piety and charity these men attempted to overcome the opprobrium that in Ottoman society (as elsewhere), clung to them as people not fully men and yet not women.' Suraiya Faroqhi, University of Munich'The first book-length account of the black eunuchs of the Ottoman sultanate, Hathaway's study deftly weaves the Istanbul and Egyptian power bases of the Chief Harem Eunuch's office into a riveting story of rise through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and then irrelevance in the reform era of the nineteenth. Individual figures come vibrantly alive, some rivaling the grand vizier in influence. Particularly novel is a chapter on memorializing of the Harem eunuchs through painted images, tombs, and gravestones.' Leslie P. Peirce, New York University'Jane Hathaway's The Chief Eunuch of the Ottoman Harem is as full a picture of African eunuchs in Mediterranean history as readers are likely to find, or construct for themselves.' Madeline C. Zilfi, Journal of the American Oriental Society'Hathaway's book is extensively and deeply researched, focusing on key figures to demonstrate how their careers were shaped by wider political and social transformations.' Nur Sobers-Khan, Journal of Early Modern HistoryTable of Contents1. Introduction to the Chief Harem Eunuch; 2. The African Connection; 3. Arrangement in black and white: eunuchs in the Ottoman Palace; 4. The creation of the office of Chief Harem Eunuch and the career of Habeshi Mehmed Agha; 5. The crisis years of the seventeenth century; 6. Yusuf Agha and the Köprülü reforms; 7. A new paradigm: El-Hajj Beshir Agha and his successors; 8. Exile and the Kingdom: the Chief Harem Eunuch and Egypt; 9. The Chief Harem Eunuch and Ottoman religious and intellectual life; 10. Reformed out of existence: the dénouement of the Chief Harem Eunuch; 11. Memorializing the Chief Harem Eunuch; 12. Conclusion.
£29.44
Cambridge University Press Universal Empire A Comparative Approach To Imperial Culture And Representation In Eurasian History
Book SynopsisThe claim by certain rulers to universal empire has a long history stretching as far back as the Assyrian and Achaemenid Empires. This book traces its various manifestations in classical antiquity, the Islamic world, Asia and Central America as well as considering seventeenth- and eighteenth-century European discussions of international order. As such it is an exercise in comparative world history combining a multiplicity of approaches, from ancient history, to literary and philosophical studies, to the history of art and international relations and historical sociology. The notion of universal, imperial rule is presented as an elusive and much coveted prize among monarchs in history, around which developed forms of kingship and political culture. Different facets of the phenomenon are explored under three, broadly conceived, headings: symbolism, ceremony and diplomatic relations; universal or cosmopolitan literary high-cultures; and, finally, the inclination to present universal imperTrade Review'… this volume has much to offer to ancient historians.' Rolf Strootman, Bryn Mawr Classical ReviewTable of Contents1. 'Elephant of India' - universal empire through time and across cultures Peter Fibiger Bang with Dariusz Kołodziejczyk; Part I. Eurasia - Antiquity till Early Modernity: 2. Propaganda and practice in Assyrian and Persian imperial culture Gojko Barjamovic; 3. Between Aśoka and Antiochos - an essay in world history on universal kingship and cosmopolitan culture in the Hellenistic ecumene Peter Fibiger Bang; 4. The making of Oriental Rome: shaping the Trojan legend Rolf Michael Schneider; 5. Pseudo-Aristotelian politics and theology in universal Islam Garth Fowden; 6. The Christian imperial tradition, Greek and Latin Judith Herrin and Dimiter Angelov; 7. Khan, Caliph, Tsar and Imperator: the multiple identities of the Ottoman Sultan Dariusz Kołodziejczyk; 8. How the Mughal Padshahs referenced Iran in their visual construction of universal rule Ebba Koch; 9. Ideologies of state building in Vijayanagara and Post-Vijayanagara South India: some reflections Velcheru Narayana Rao and Sanjay Subrahmanyam; 10. Sons of Heaven: the Qing appropriation of the Chinese model of universal empire Evelyn S. Rawski; Part II. Contrasting Universalisms - Old and New World: 11. Aztec universalism: ideology and status symbols in the service of empire-building Justyna Olko; 12. From empire to Commonwealth(s) - orders in Europe, 1300–1800 Peter Haldén; 13. Imperial universalism - further thoughts John A. Hall.
£36.87
Cambridge University Press The Archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant
Book SynopsisThe Levant - modern Lebanon, southern Syria, Jordan, Israel and Palestine - is one of the most intensively excavated regions of the world. This richly documented and illustrated survey offers a state-of-the-art description of the formative phase of Levantine societies, as they perfected the Mediterranean village economy and began to interact with neighboring civilizations in Egypt and Syria, on the way to establishing their first towns and city-state polities. Citing numerous finds and interpretive approaches, Greenberg offers a new narrative of social and cultural development, emulation, resistance and change, illustrating how Levantine communities translated broader movements of the Near Eastern and Mediterranean Bronze Age - the emergence of states, international trade, elite networks and imperial ambitions - into a uniquely Levantine idiom.Trade Review'… It is the geographic characteristics of this region that shaped the Levant and its cultures, creating a uniquely Levantine idiom. Its diverse landscapes, microregions and climates, and lack of unifying geographic features tended to suppress the ability to accumulate great amounts of surplus or wealth (which, in turn, would have required the development of large bureaucracies). These tendencies also encouraged exploitation of the region by imperial powers. The result is the resilience, creativity, and flexibility to adapt to new situations as narrated in Greenberg's masterly, nuanced, and engaging account of the Bronze Age Levant.' Ann E. Killibrew, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage StudiesTable of Contents1. Introduction; 2. Villages and the growth of social power in the Early Bronze I; 3. Urbanism and its demise in the Early Bronze II and III; 4. The Intermediate Bronze Age – entering the orbit of Syria; 5. Villages, manors, and integrated city-states of the Middle Bronze Age; 6. The Late Bronze Age – under Egypt's heel; 7. Conclusion – the legacy of the Bronze Age Levant.
£22.99
