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This unique volume offers unprecedented insight into the typical day, interests, and familial, social, and cultural lives of Middle Eastern teens. Each chapter includes a resource guide to teach teens more about the 12 profiled countries: Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Numerous photos accompany the text. This book provides teen readers in the West with a window into the everyday lives of their counterparts in the East, fostering a better understanding of both their similarities and differences.

The current population of the Middle East is young, and their future is critical in our worldview. Teen life in the Middle East is marked by extremes. In some countries, especially those that are Westernized, teens share the benefits of globalization with material and social comforts such as private schooling and vacations abroad. In other countries, political instability, religious and cultural repression, war and occupation, earthquakes, and poverty are ongoing crises. Many teenagers must endure a difficult, and sometimes nearly impossible, path to adulthood.

Customer Reviews (1)

wealth of accurate information
We know little about the Middle Eastern people and their family life.This book, though basic and intended for younger readers, provides a great deal of information on thougths, feelings, and the day-to-day activities of teenagers in these countries.Good source of background information. ... Read more

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After a solid overview of the land, people, and history in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 covers religion. Jordan is still a conservative Muslim state, with a Sunni Muslim majority, that retains good relations with its citizens of other faiths. The discussion of literature and media in Chapter 3 emphasizes the pan-Arabic tradition. In Chapter 4, architecture, art, and traditional crafts in Jordan are shown to be linked to the history of the country and its religious and ethnic diversity. In Chapter 5, the cuisine and culture reveal inspiration from the region of Greater Syria. In the Gender, Marriage, and Family chapter, Shoup looks at the conservative and powerful family and changing women's roles. Highlighted in the Social Customs chapter are the topics of honor, shame, and respect, social clubs, and more on women's roles in the middle class. A final chapter on Music and Dance covers everything from their Bedouin roots to Arab rap.

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This book provides a background to the modern geography of the Middle East by tracing the evolution of humanized managed landscapes from the domestication of cereals through to the initiation of the great transformations of the region in the mid-nineteenth century. By examining the natural potential of the region in terms of climate, natural vegetation and physical conditions, and charting the emergence of basic long-lasting traditional economies based on this environment, the author shows how the environment stimulated traditional life styles, which in turn perpetuated and molded the region. ... Read more

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Empires of the Sand offers a bold and comprehensive reinterpretation of the struggle for mastery in the Middle East during the long nineteenth century (1789-1923). This book denies primacy to Western imperialism in the restructuring of the region and attributes equal responsibility to regional powers. Rejecting the view of modern Middle Eastern history as an offshoot of global power politics, the authors argue that the main impetus for the developments of this momentous period came from the local actors.

Ottoman and Western imperial powers alike are implicated in a delicate balancing act of manipulation and intrigue in which they sought to exploit regional and world affairs to their greatest advantage. Backed by a wealth of archival sources, the authors refute the standard belief that Europe was responsible for the destruction of the Ottoman Empire and the region's political unity. Instead, they show how the Hashemites played a decisive role in shaping present Middle Eastern boundaries and in hastening the collapse of Ottoman rule. Similarly, local states and regimes had few qualms about seeking support and protection from the "infidel" powers they had vilified whenever their interests so required.

Karsh and Karsh see a pattern of pragmatic cooperation and conflict between the Middle East and the West during the past two centuries, rather than a "clash of civilizations." Such a vision affords daringly new ways of viewing the Middle East's past as well as its volatile present.

Customer Reviews (14)

The Karshes set the record straight
Professors Efriam and Inari Karsh (husband and wife) have produced a tour de force and a sound rebuttal to the standard interpretation of modern Middle Eastern History.According to the orthodox version during the early 1920's a domineering, imperial Europe imposed its will on a humble and enervated Middle East.Perhaps the best account of this standard view is David Fromkin's "A Peace to End All Peace" (1989).

Using original sources and masterful scholarship the Karshes' effectively refute the Fromkin version. (The Karshes refer to Fromkin's standard history as a "caricature" (p. 351).) In the orthodox view the Germans swindled the naïve Ottomans into an alliance in WWI.But the Karshes' researches reveal that it was the ambitious young Ottoman rulers who took the initiative and rushed into an alliance with Germany in hopes of territorial expansion and restoration of the great days of Ottoman power. And this alliance for aggrandizement by the Ottomans is, according to the Karshes, "by far the most important decision in the history of the modern Middle East."In effect it was the Ottomans' hubris and lust for power that brought them down, by forming an alliance with Germany, the losing power in WWI.

And after WWI, far from being supine, the Arabs were busy vying for their own, smaller religious and ethnic groups, which were in constant conflict with one another.If the Great Powers had not pushed for the formation of larger states, the Arabs would have fallen into innumerable small clannish social units - which would have forever been in total chaos with internecine power struggles.

Arab Middle Easterners since the early 1920's have blamed Europe (and the West in general) for their failed states, failed economies and failure in general to get along in the modern world. According to the Karshes the Middle Easterners are largely responsible for their own destinies. Far from being victims, they have created their own modern existence."Western Guilt" has no basis in historical reality.

A Different Perspective But Still One Sided
I appreciated this book for what the author was trying to do, that is counter the common assumptions regarding the Middle East situations and the formations to today. In fact, up until the end of the 19th century the author's did a very good job. The portions on Napoleon in Egypt were very good and I highly recommend. When we came to the 20th Century though the reading became tiresome. It was very Eurocentric, finding a way in every situation to blame the Arabs for everything from imperialism to puppet states. There was some truth to what they were saying but very distorted to a perspective that seemed to be ruled by an agenda of shock value if nothing else. In the end I cannot give this a good rating because of this. I would highly suggest the book "A Peace to End All Peace" for a more accurate account of the history in a global context of the middle east in the early 20th century.

Puts the recent history of the Middle East in proper context
The Karshes assess the history of the Middle East from the time of Napoleon through the end of the Ottoman Empire.And that means dealing with a couple of obvious potential forms of bias.First, the people in a nation often delude themselves into thinking that they can salvage something useful out of bad situations just by making the smartest choices.But that's not always the case: if one is outnumbered by hostile forces, one may lose a war no matter what one does.The second problem is the opposite one, where people who lose a war may conclude that they have been mere bystanders to their own history, and that they had no opportunities to improve their circumstances.Again, this is not always the case: one may get into a completely avoidable war and lose it.

Did any of this happen in the Middle East?The authors indicate that it did. In doing so, they show the amount of Arab disunity.This allowed small groups of fighters to appear to represent much larger populations.In some cases, these small groups were granted vast land holdings.In other cases, they simply got everyone in trouble by making any coherent unified policy impossible.Meanwhile, Middle Eastern leaders were anything but hapless bystanders to history but active schemers who often overestimated their military position.In addition, the discussion of the incredible mass slaughters of Armenians and Assyrians shows the extent to which Middle East despots misused their power.The Karshes explain how the Middle Eastern Jews narrowly avoided suffering a similar fate.

The authors make a number of very valuable points.First, while many people blame wars on nationalism, the truth is that imperialism has been the problem.The culprits have been those who demanded the right to subjugate others.When their neighbors tried to assert their rights as human beings, empires used threats, followed by force, to punish those who failed to be properly subservient.Second, Middle Eastern violence was not a European import.The forerunner of modern Middle Eastern violence is neither European nationalism nor European imperialism but Middle Eastern imperialism.Third, the interaction between Europeans and the Hashemites was not that of imperialists interacting with nationalists but of two imperialists interacting with each other, with the Hashemites demanding neither freedom nor self-determination but the rights to a successor Empire.

This book supplies excellent background to those who wish to trace the origins of today's Middle East.

Good background, poor reading.
Fighting urges to put this book down after the first 100 pages, I finally finished after a couple days what I felt was a bland historical work, that's definately worth reading. Understanding the events leading up to the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of nation states in the Middle East is imperitive if one wants access to the situation that is currently being played out. In many ways the majority of problems plauging the M.E. right now are directly related to the time period this book deals with. I felt that the book gave me a far more solid understanding of post-empire mid east than I received in a university level history course. However, without previous exposure to Sykes-Picot, or the Hussein-McMahon letters (to name a few) the information from Karsh's book would not have stuck. I therefore reccomend this book for people who already have some knowlege about mid east history (musn't be anything special or thorough) and a desire to learn the dry basics before moving on. It's is also worth mentioning that Karsh's thesis is good counter-argument to a lot written about these issues, but hardly stands alone as the full and final truth of the matter. For that, this book is just the beginning.

One more note, the maps in this book are terrible and confusing with most important towns and borders left out. Studying the Middle East without good maps makes the job a whole lot harder. Just a thought.

Boring and biased account of events
It happened that I started reading this book immediately after reading David Fromkin's book, A Peace to End All Peace. David's book was more concerned about the period around WWI 1910-1922. However, it striked me how referring to the same sources you may get totally opposite impressions of the incidents that happened in that same period! Then I realised that the Empires of The Sand is trying to convince me with four main themes:
1- The Turks are bad and imperialists.
2- The Arabs are bad and imperialists.
3- The British are good imperialists and never intended to divide the area but were forced by the bad imperialists to do so.
4- The Jews are good and real owners of Palestine.
It is clear that this book gives you the impression that it is well researched, but is basically what the authors wants us to know about that period of time and what serves the four above-mentioned themes.
I gave this book one more star than it deserves because I have gained some new information to research about local players in the Middle East and the Balkan regions at that period.
Clearly, this is another book written to serve the Zionist propaganda and claims in the Middle East and Palestine.
I would recommend reading Fromkin's book to get a more informative and intelligent and less biased view of the events of that important period in the modern history of the Middle East. ... Read more

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The history of the city where East meets West spans 28 centuries. Istanbul, the ancient and timeless heart of modern Turkey, is a city with its mythological origins in the seventh century BC. Founded as Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire by Constantine the Great, during the 1000-year Byzantine Empire that followed it was a city of fabled riches. After its fall to the Turks in 1453, the splendors of the Ottoman Empire kept it glorious.

Drawing on diaries, letters, memoirs, histories, and novels from the sixth-century AD onwards, this inspiring anthology recreates the vanished glories of the city, and includes: coronation of a Byzantine emperor; funeral of a sultan; triumphal entry of Mehmet the Conqueror; building of the Süleymaniye, the most magnificent of the city's mosques; harems in the sixteenth century; death of Atatürk in 1938; Byzantine holy relics; Turkish baths and coffee-houses. All this and much more is vividly described in the words of those who were actually there, to offer an original and indispensable companion for the discriminating traveller. ... Read more

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Pakistan, the land of Mughals, is rich in legend and myth. Here the Chinese explorers came to discover Buddhism, and Alexander the Great marched with his armies to the Arabian Sea. This guide offers visitors a fascinating look inside the borders, revealing in words and in more than 200 full-color photos Pakistan's many treasures. ... Read more

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The Arabian peninsula is a vast and diverse land full of surprises. The traditional Western view, reinforced by literature and films, is of a forbidding monotonous region, dominated by deserts. This book aims to dispel the myth by portraying a subcontinent where soaring juniper-clad mountains, inhabited by leopard, baboon, unique birdlife and rare gazelle contrast with beautiful sand-deserts, home of adapted wildlife like Ruppell's fox and rheem gazelle. It examines the natural history of the peninsula and delves into the marine worlds around its shores. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An interesting view of a curious land.
As a frequent visitor to the Middle East, I have made it my business to learn something about the various countries, the peoples and their customs in addition to the local flora and fauna.Of course, my main interest is the underwater world in general and it's many outstanding shipwrecks in particular.Whilst there is plenty of published material about both the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea, finding other information - that is both accurate and up-to-date, is not always easy.

In this book, the author skilfully avoids the conflicts which have beset the region for the past 100 years or more and concentrates on the ecology.Portraying the haunting deserts with their unique flora and curious creatures alongside mountains bedecked with juniper and inhabited by even more curious - and often dangerous, creatures, this author has done an excellent job of bringing the various habitats to life.

With the inclusion of chapters on both the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, this is as complete a work on the subject as one would hope to find and is also a most interesting read.

NM

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This book focuses on how globalization is impacting contemporary Israel. It is a concise and originally argued introduction to Israel, but the author, Uri Ram, is careful to frame his analysis in a broader discussion of Israeli history and broader social currents. Focusing in particular on two defining – and conflicting – contemporary trends; one toward advanced liberal democracy with a cosmopolitan edge, and the other toward ethno-religious traditionalism and rejection of the secularism associated with market driven globalization. The cosmopolitan, high-tech driven city of Tel Aviv represents the former trend, and Jerusalem – a city increasingly dominated by orthodox Jews – represents the latter. Using Benjamin Barber's Jihad versus McWorld thesis to good effect, Ram's book will stand as an ideal introduction to contemporary Israel and its place in the world.

Customer Reviews (1)

A Fascinating book
The book deals with the pervasive impacts of the globalization at the Israeli society. It is a sharp and detailed account of the multiple implications of the globalization process that transformed socio-economic and cultural values in Israeli society.
It draws a clear picture of several aspects related to the deep crisis of identity faced by the third generation of Israelis. It helps to understand how Israel became a divided society struggling between the democratic and Jewish facets of the State, with dramatic implications not only to Israeli politics, but also to the Israeli-Arab conflict as a whole.
It is highly recommended for anyone interested in better understanding the different voices that shape Israeli discourse at the present time.
... Read more

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This is the first fundamentally new work to come out in half a century on one of the world's most famous Islamic archaeological sites: Samarra, in Iraq. This capital of the Abbasid caliphs in the 9th century is not only one of the largest urban sites worldwide, but also gives us the essence of what the physical appearance of the caliphate was like, for early Baghdad is long lost. Northedge sets out to explain the history and development of this enormous site, 45 km long, using both archaeological and textual sources to weave a new interpretation of how the city worked: its four caliphal palaces, four Friday mosques, cantonments for the military and for the palace servants, houses for the men of state and generals. ... Read more

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Iran, or Persia as it was known in the West for most of its long history, has been mapped extensively for centuries but the absence of a good cartobibliography has often deterred scholars of its history and geography from making use of the many detailed maps that were produced. This is now available, prepared by Cyrus Alai, who embarked on a lengthy investigation into the old maps of Persia, and visited major map collections and libraries in many countries.

With over four hundred separate map entries and over two hundred illustrations, this work covers all the important printed general maps of Persia from the early editions of Ptolemy at the end of the 15th century until 1925 when the Qajar dynasty was overthrown. Useful historical accounts provide the background to this wealth of cartographic achievement. After a description of the many editions of Ptolemy, later maps are divided into groups according to the country where they were produced: Italy, the Low Countries, France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia, America, Persia, Turkey, and Spain with Portugal. This permits the work of a single cartographer to be handled in an uninterrupted sequence, thus aiding quick reference to a particular style of map, and its later offshoots.

At the end of each major entry, further details concerning different editions and variations, other related maps, historical notes and unique or important features are provided, thus fitting the map into its chronological background. The large number of indexes at the end of the book should enable map collectors, dealers and librarians to identify any map of Persia with ease.

This book is a good balance between history and geography, and will appeal to a wide range of readers. Many Persian maps have surely been rescued from obscurity, and it is now possible to study sequence of developing geographical knowledge over a historically and economically important part of Asia. It is unlikely to be superseded for a very long time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Definitive Work
This outstanding book is a welcome addition to the histories of cartography.Its scholarship is first rate, its graphic reproduction is excellent, and its physical properties will sustain it under heavy use as a library reference.The cost may deter the merely curious, but it is worth the price to any academic library, serious scholar, or collector of Persian maps.It begins with Ptolemaic maps (late 1400s) and closes with the end of the Qajar Dynasty (1925).The maps included show the entire area of Persia alone or a bit of adjoining areas.A planned second volume will show specialty maps, such as cities, provinces, the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, etc.

The introduction summarizes mapping in the classical world and during the classical Islamic period.Although intended to provide a context rather than a comprehensive history, it is a most useful section.The book then addresses 400+ maps out of 1200+ studied.Each entry contains the mapmaker, place of printing, date, title, language, size, latitude and longitude covered, sale, source, and useful details.The book has two parts.The first is on Ptolemaic maps, especially the Fifth Map of Asia, and many derivative maps.The second is on subsequent maps of Persia, and is divided into ten sections by place of origin.

Brill is a prestigious European academic publishing house.Its publication of this work is further evidence of its value to the scholarly community.It is obviously made for use as a library reference.Its non-acidic paper is heavy and strong, and the binding is reinforced. It measures 17x12 inches and weighs nearly seven pounds.In both content and construction, this is a work that will last for decades.
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Maps, chronological charts, and more
The gorgeous 'World and Its Peoples' set is a top, recommended pick for any library seeking a comprehensive reference for the middle to high school grade level. Each book in the set covers a region - such as Arabian Peninsula - and offers an eye-catching, bright cover to pair with maps, contemporary photos, and plenty of detail on governments, history, politics, economics and geography. Maps, chronological charts, and more offer detailed and in-depth information perfect for any library seeking a contemporary reference profiling world peoples. ... Read more

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The story of the 9th-century caliphal mission from Baghdad to discover the legendary barrier against the apocalyptic nations of Gog and Magog mentioned in the Quran, has been either dismissed as superstition or treated as historical fact. By exploring the intellectual and literary history surrounding the production and early reception of this adventure, Travis Zadeh traces the conceptualization of frontiers within early 'Abbasid society and re-evaluates the modern treatment of marvels and monsters inhabiting medieval Islamic descriptions of the world. Examining the roles of translation, descriptive geography, and salvation history in the projection of early 'Abbasid imperial power, this book is essential for all those interested in Islamic studies, the 'Abbasid dynasty and its politics, geography, religion, Arabic and Persian literature and European Orientalism. ... Read more

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In this volume the contributors use GIS (Geographical Information Systems) to reassess both historic and contemporary Asian countries and traditionally Islamic areas. ... Read more

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Stands of relict vegetation, soil horizons, and sedimentary deposits along with archaeological evidence suggest that during certain time spans within the past twenty millennia, Jordan was endowed with moister and more vegetated landscapes than the ones we see today. In this detailed volume, Carlos E. Cordova synthesizes diverse information on multiple topics to provide a comprehensive view of the changes in the Jordanian landscape and the many ways it has been affected by human habitation and the forces of nature. Cordova focuses on geoarchaeological and cultural ecological aspects of research, presenting data from physical, chemical, and biological sources. He examines the changing influence of climate, vegetation, and hunting opportunities on cultural exploitation tactics, as well as the effects of the growing population and agriculture on the environment. Cordova argues that an interdisciplinary approach to studying the area is crucial to achieving a true understanding of Jordan’s changing landscape. Chapter topics include approaches to the study of ancient Jordanian landscapes in the Near Eastern context; the physical scene; endowed landscapes of the woodlands; the encroaching drylands; the current and future state of the paleoecological and geoarchaeological record; patterns of millennial landscape change; and the process of interpreting millennial landscape change. The text is abundantly illustrated with photos, line illustrations, tables, and maps, providing a valuable assessment of archaeological developments over the prehistory and history of what today is the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. This volume will be especially welcomed by scholars interested in the archaeology, history, and geography of Jordan, the Levant, and the Near East and by field-school students working on archaeological projects in Jordan. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

A Sense of Siege
Fundamentalist Islam has been a growing presence in the Muslim world for a quarter-century, but only in the past year or two has it become a major policy issue for Americans.Should the U.S. government engage in dialogue with fundamentalist groups seeking power?Is there such a thing as a moderate fundamentalist?What steps should be taken to prevent fundamentalist-inspired violence within the United States?

While many scholars and journalists have written books on fundamentalist Islam, "A Sense of Siege" may well be the first full-length study of relations between it and the West.The study offers the excitement and the flaws characteristic of such initial efforts.Fuller and Lesser take up a wide range of policy-related issues and handle them with knowledge and sophistication.For example, they note that while fundamentalists have no basic hostility to the free market, "[r]ealistically, the Islamists will face immense pressure to adopt a populist set of policies." Less impressive, the authors adopt a position of moral relativism on the matter of troubled ties between the West and the Muslim ("no one side is more right than the other")Worse yet, they urge Americans to see the fundamentalists not as power-hungry ideologues but as spokesmen for legitimate grievances; this leads them to advise in favor of a soft policy toward fundamentalism.Agree with them or not, however, Fuller and Lesser have done much to advance the debate with this insightful volume.

Middle East Quarterly, September 1995

Required Reading for the Politically Naive
This is an excellent treatise on both past as well as present state of affairs/relations between Islam and the West.The author should be commended for his forthrightness and bluntness in stating these differences, very close to the level Huntington himself articulated in his Clash of Civilizations.

What is important to understand is the role Saudi-funded pet projects like the American Muslim Council play for the State Dept. and for U.S.-Islamic relations. A Must read for those [who] believe that there exists no fundamental difference between the U.S. and Islam, or that any differences that do exist can simply be overcome with "dawah". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Scholar And Spy
Donald Newton Wilber (d. 1997) was one of the foremost authorities on all things Iranian. His book, THE TIMURID ARCHITECTURE OF IRAN AND TURAN, is considered by many to be the definitive work on the subject. Wilber was also a veteran contract operative for the CIA. "Operation Ajax," the covert Anglo-American project which overthrew democratically-elected Iranian prime minister Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953, was designed and largely executed by him. Wilber wasn't just another insulated academic who studied Iran history and affairs - Wilber made Iranian history and affairs (although admittedly for the worst).

This 1982 ninth edition (unfortunately out-of-print) was updated to include the fall of the Monarchy and Khomeini's eventual takeover.

If you find it, buy it.

A Wonderful Single Volume Introduction
I highly recommend this summary of Iranian history. One volume for two and a half millennia of history! It is readable and interesting.It gives the reader a little peek into what makes the heart of an Iranian beat.Shouldbe of interest to anyone interested in Iran, the Middle East, Sufi, Rumi,etc. ... Read more