Middle East History Books

ARABIC PROVERBS (With Side by Side English Translations)
Compiled & Translated by Joseph Hanki. Condition: NEW 1998 Hippocrene Trade Paperback, firt printing. Tiny, tiny edgewear. Content: This bilingual proverb collection contains 600 Arabic proverbs with side-by-side English translations and equivalent English proverbs where appropriate. This may be used as a reference guide, a learning tool and a treasury of ethnic heritage.
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THE ARABS IN THE GOLDEN AGE (Peoples of the Past series)
by Mokhtar Moktefi and Veronique Ageorges. Translated by Mary Kae LaRose. Wonderful, detailed color illustrations by Ageorges. Condition: NEW c. 1998 Milbrook Press soft cover, third printing. Tiny tiny edge wear. Content: Describes that period when the Arabs spread their religion, art, architecture, and great knowledge of the ancient world throughout the Middle East and North Africa. The "trivia" insert boxes add to history and interest of the book. Excellent! Ages 9 - 12. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 8.50 + $ 3.19 media shipping. Priority & International shipping available.

ABU NIDAL: A Gun For Hire, The Secret Life of the World's Most Notorious Arab Terrorist
by Patrick Seale. Condition: UNREAD 1992 Random House hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first edition, first printing. Although the book is new/unread, there is a very very slight bow to the front board - poor shelving, I assume (before I got hold of it). Interior clean & tight. The cover photo of Nidal is the only known photo take by the Mossad. Content: Abu Nidal was killed (or killed himself?) in Baghdad in 2002. This book chronicles his real and supposed terrorist activities up to and including 1992. It is a fascinating look into the dark world of terrorism and the men (and now women) who carry out terrorist acts. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
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DESERT QUEEN: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia
by Janet Wallach. B&W maps and era photos throughout. Condition: Gently pre-read to page 72 (and abandoned), 2000 Anchor Books Trade Paperback, fourth printing. Light edge wear but the bottom back corner shows shelf wear last few pages. Interior clean & tight. Content: Turning away from the priviledged world of the "eminent Victorians," Gertrude Bell (1868-1926) explored, mapped, and excavated the world of the Arabs. Recruited by British intelligence during World War I, she played a crucial role in obtaining the loyalty of Arab leaders, and her connections and information provided the brains to match T. E. Lawrence's brawn. After the war, she played a major role in creating the modern Middle East and was, at the time, considered the most powerful woman in the British Empire. Fascinating bio. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
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A HISTORY OF THE ARAB PEOPLES
by Albert Hourani. Condition: UNREAD 1991 Harvard University Press large Trade Paperback, no printing given. Two B&W photo sections. Name top loose end page. Content: Hourani examines Arabic-speaking nations of the Islamic world from the seventh century to the present in a volume that spent 12 weeks on PW 's bestseller list and was a History Book Club main selection. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
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THE HOLY LAND: Myths and Legends (The Holyland)
by J. E. Hanauer. Cover art: The Departure of Abraham by Josef Molar. Condition: UNREAD 1995 Senate Trade Paperback, no printing given. Two pale "near-creases" bottom front cover corner. Tiny edge ear. Interior clean & tight. Content: Originally published in 1907 as The Folklore of the Holy Land. The Holy Land is often considered to be a region in which the extraordinary occurences of Biblical times eclipsed this storytelling cycle. It seems as if the weight of the Christian legacy allowed these rich lands only a brief cultural life before consigning them to obscurity, robbed of the vibrancy of the people who have continued to live there. Over the ages, ordinary Moslem, Jewish and Christian people have gathered to share their heritage. Whether it be beneath the full vines of Autumn or while taking refuge against the chill of a January downpour, these stories have been passed on and embellished for millennia. This volume provides an excellent guide to a neglected tradition, superbly retold by a sympathetic interpreter. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
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IN A PERSIAN MIRROR: Images of the West and Westerners in Iranian Fiction
by M. R. Ghanoonparvar. Condition: NEW 1993 University of Texas Press Trade Paperback, stated first edition, first printing. Content: The extreme anti-Western actions and attitudes of Iranians in the past decade have astonished and dismayed the West, which has characterized the Iranian positions as irrational and inexplicable. In this groundbreaking study of images of the West in Iranian literature, however, M. R. Ghanoonparvar reveals that these attitudes did not develop suddenly or inexplicably but rather evolved over more than two centuries of Persian-Western contact. Notable among the authors whose works Ghanoonparvar discusses are Sadeq Hedayat, M. A. Jamalzadeh, Hushang Golshiri, Gholamhoseyn Sa'edi, Simin Daneshvar, Moniru Ravanipur, Sadeq Chubak, and Jalal Al-e Ahmad. This survey significantly illuminates the sources of Iranian attitudes toward the West and offers many surprising discoveries for Western readers, not least of which is the fact that Iranians have often found Westerners to be as enigmatic and incomprehensible as we have believed them to be. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 7.59 + 3.19 media shipping.

ISRAEL, PALESTINE AND PEACE: Essays
by Amos Oz. Translated by Nicholas de Lange. A Helen and Kurt Wolff. Condition: NEW 1995 Harvest original Trade Paperback, first printing. Content: Oz, an essayist and best-selling Israeli novelist, has been a leading campaigner in the Peace Now movement. This collection of essays, speeches, and letters from the period 1976-94 reflects his concern about paths to peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The book contains a collection of 12 pieces stressing the general themes that the Palestinian demand for statehood is a legitimate one and that peace is essential for Israel's survival. Some of the most provocative pieces include "Integrity," a 1985 speech discussing the role of the writer in modern society, and "Hizbollah in a Skullcap," a February 1994 essay about the lessons to be drawn from the 1994 Hebron massacre. Unfortunately, even the essays from 1978 are still relevant - and will be in 3006 unless peace in the area is achieved. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 11.59 + 3.09 media shipping.

LAWRENCE: The Uncrowned King of Arabia
by Michael Asher. 2 B&W photo sections. Condition: NEW 2001 Overlook Press Trade Paperback [419 pages], first printing. Very slight "lift" to front cover. Content: Lawrence of Arabia began his role in World War I as a map clerk and ended it as one of the great figures of the war. He altered the face of the Middle EAst, helped the Arabs gain their freedom after 500 years of domination by the Ottoman Turks, and almost single-handedly formulated many of the precepts of modern guerrilla warfare. Yet he refunsed any honors for his achievements and spent much of the rest of his life in the ranks of the and the Royal Air Foce, in near obscurity. Another fascinating biography of one of the world's most fascinating characters. [1 copy available]
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THE LION'S GRAVE: Dispatches from Afghanistan (Uncorrected Proof)
by Jon Lee Anderson. B&W photos. Condition: NEW 2002 Grove Press Uncorrected Proof. An ARC or Uncorrected Proof may have more than the final edition or it may have less. In this case, all the photos are there, but the Glossary of Names, Acknowledgments, and the Afterword are missing - represented by blank pages. Content: Anderson, who had reported on the mujahideen 's war against the Soviets in Afghanistan a decade earlier, was among the first Western journalists to get back into the country after the September 11, 2001, attack on the U.S. In this graphic account, which includes his diary entries, Anderson recounts the arduous task of developing sources and reporting on the complexities of a nation caught up in its own ethnic and religious conflicts and its place in the new war on terrorism. In one of the book's many ironies, as he travels with a convoy of journalists under the protection of a former Green Beret, he uses high-tech equipment to transmit copy chronicling the hardship of primitive living conditions. Anderson details the search for Osama bin Laden in the caves of Tora Bora and considers, based on interviews with well-placed sources, the possible connections between the terrorist attack on the U.S and the assassination of Ahmed Shah Massoud, the head of the Northern Alliance, two days earlier. A compelling look at the war and politics of an international hot spot. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
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MOUNT SINAI
by Joseph J. Hobbs. B&W maps, art, & maps illustrate. Condition: UNREAD, but not perfect, 1995 Univ. of Texas Press hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacaket), first printing. Light edge wear to DJ top spine. Interior clean & tight. Content: No one has ever verified the location of the holy mountain where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. For Jews, it is not the mountain but the message that is important, and the mountain remains unlocatable. For Muslims as well, there is no tradition indicating the mountain's whereabouts. However, since the third century A.D., popular Christian belief has identified Jebel Musa (Bedouin for Mount Moses), in Egypt's mountainous southern Sinai Peninsula, as the biblical site. Hobbs, an associate professor of geography, draws on a wealth of sources-tourists and pilgrims, from medieval Europeans to U.S. Congressman Les Aspin-for a leisurely history of Mount Sinai up to the present controversy, wherein Egyptian authorities, seeking to garner more tourist dollars, plan to erect a host of tourist amenities, including not only a casino but also a tramway to take tourists to the summit. Hobbs begins with a full description of Sinai's geographical features, flora and fauna. With biblical quotations, he retells Moses' story, the exodus from Egypt and journey across the desert to the holy mountain. Hobbs describes the sacred sites, including the monastery of St. Katherine, that attract visitors. The negative impact of those visitors, who now come by the thousands, has not only intruded on the monks' solitude, but raised serious concerns about the desert environment. Hobbs's book faithfully evokes the natural beauty and religious impact of this exotic locale. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 19.50 + $ 3.29 media shipping.

ORAL TRADITION: ARABIC ORAL TRADITIONS (Vol. 4, Nos. 1-2, January-May, 1989)
edited by John Miles Foley. Guest Editor: Issa J. Boullata. B&W photos. Condition: UNREAD 1989 Slavica Trade Paperback, no printing given. Tiny edge wear. Content: Articles on the use and importance of Arabic civilizations. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
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READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN: A Memoir in Books
by Azar Nafisi. Condition: Gently pre-read 2004 Random House Trade Paperback, 17th printing. Tiny edgewear with pale hinge crease. Had not been shelved well before I got it. Content: Every Thursday morning for two years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a bold and inspired teacher named Azar Nafisi secretly gathered seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden Western classics. As Islamic morality squads staged arbitrary raids in Tehran, fundamentalists seized hold of the universities, and a blind censor stifled artistic expression, the girls in Azar Nafisi's living room risked removing their veils and immersed themselves in the worlds of Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov. In this extraordinary memoir, their stories become intertwined with the ones they are reading. This is a remarkable exploration of resilience in the face of tyranny and a celebration of the liberating power of literature. [1 copy available]
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THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF ISLAM (Being the Second Edition of the Sociology of Islam)
by Reuben Levy. B&W maps illustrate. Condition: UNREAD 1971 Cambridge University Press Trade Paperback, second edition, reprint. Tanning to edges of white cover but none to interior page edges. 536 pages. Content: Reviewer: "Contents: Chpt 1: The grades of society in Islam (mawali, ashraf, transoxiana, slavery, Islamic fraternities). 2: The status of women in Islam heris, duties, plurality, legal age, wali, mut'a marriages, veiling, saints) . 3: The status of the child in Islam guardianship, adoption). 4: Islamic jurisprudence (Koran, ra'y supplements, qiyas supplements, hadith, al-Shafi, fiqh, the four Madhhabs). 5: Moral sentiments in Islam (faith, conduct, commandments, lying, evil, responsibility, good v evil, Sufi, Ghazali, Greek ethics, adab, the ideal and expedient,). 6: Usage, custom and secular law under Islam (sunna, sharia, urf, ada, zakat, taxes, dhimmis, qadi). 7: The caliphate and the central government (umma, khalifah, Kharijis, Shia imams, coinage reform, the treasury, spoils of war, revenues in 780-810 by province, public expenditures, stipends, vizier). 8: Government in the provinces of the caliphate and in the succession states. 9: Military organization in Islam. 10: Islamic cosmology and other sciences." Questions welcome. [1 copy availaable]
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THE TOPKAPI PALACE
by Ilhan Askit. Beautiful color photos & drawings illustrate. English edition - thank goodness. Condition: UNREAD 1994 Aksit Kultur Turizm Sanat Ajans Ltd (Turkey) soft cover, no edition given. Tiny edgewear. Content: Now a museum, the Topkapi Palace (Topkapi Sarayi in Turkish, literally the "Cannongate Palace" - named after a nearby gate), located in Istanbul (Constantinople), was the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1465 to 1853. The construction of the Topkapi Palace was ordered by Sultan Mehmet II (Mehmet the Conqueror) in 1459. It was completed in 1465. The palace is located on the Seraglio Point between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara in Istanbul, having a splendid view of the Bosphorus. It consists of many smaller buildings built together and surrounded by four courts. The palace is full of examples of Ottoman style architecture and also owns large collections of porcelain, robes, weapons, shields, armors, Ottoman miniatures, calligraphic manuscripts and mural decorations, as well a display of accumulated Ottoman treasures and jewelry. - from Wikipedia Questions welcome. [1 copy availaable]
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