Middle East Books

This is an excellent review of the many wars suffered by Afghanistan and the reasons these wars occurred. An excellent review for someone spending time in Afghanistan or sudying the country or region.

This is a tour de force; a comprehensive, lucid, and insightful account that makes a tangle of events over 20 years almost understandable. Scrupulously documented, full of sage judgments, cogently written, and eminently well organized, it is one of the best books on contemporary history I have read. Highly recommended along with Fundamentalism Reborn, an exceptional compilation of articles about Taliban Afghanistan.

reuters is a great source for worldwide media coverage. this book contains fabulous photos taken of afghanistan as well as small reports from a variety of reporters between the groups of photos. nothing is better than being able to see what is being mentioned or what you have heard or read about afghanistan so far. large and gripping images of all kinds of people, and differnt areas of land, the book is a great compilation of images and words to give you a nice idea of what things are like in afghanistan.

"Afghanistan: Lifting the Veil" is well-titled, as it helps educate what and why the people, the Taliban, bin Laden, al Qaeda could be what they are in Afghanistan.

Reuters is one of the best positions possible to see what is going on. As the top int'l news agency, they know the lay of the land, and the issues surrounding things.

It is not overly academic, and is accessible by the intelligent reader. It brings more to the table than simple American anger, or sadness for the loss of the WTC. Instead, Reuters shows the whole of the matter, demonstrating the grays and well as the black and whites of the circumstance.

I fully recommend "Afghanistan: Lifting the Veil" by Reuters.

Anthony Trendl

We lived in the country for 14 years back in the 50s and 60s and love to remember the people and places there.
The photographer has captured the mystery, beauty and character of both. We own a copy and have bought
it for our children to also enjoy as they remember our life and travels in Afghanistan. Although much has
changed poliltically, much remains the same. We discovered that on a recent visit. So this beautiful book
still has a message for the world.

The photographs say it all! After acknowledging the poverty that does exist they lay open the richness of spirit of people who have withstood the test of time and found their way. They have not been born-again. They were here at the beginning. What entrepreneural way of life could offer them anything, anything but the gift of being left alone. Look into their eyes.

The shocking thing about this work is that it is publically available. It provides a remarkable look into the process and forces that are driving United States air operations (for good or ill) in the Joint arena. It should be required reading for every military aviator. Its only essential flaw is that it began as commissioned study, and its customer is obvious.

The shocking thing about this work is that it is publically available. It provides a remarkable look into the process and forces that are driving United States air operations (for good or ill) in the Joint arena. It should be required reading for every military aviator. Its only essential flaw is that it began as commissioned study, and its customer is obvious.

Al-Muwatta is a collection of ahadith or orally transmitted anecdotes about Prophet Muhammed and his contemproaries (sahaba).

Islamic law is divided into Sunni schools based on Shariat and hadith, and Shia schools based on opinions of Imams (Sunnis place an empahsis on canons, while Shias consider the position and views of Imams important - in Aristotlean terms, Sunnis empahsize rule of law and Shias emphazize rule of enlightened individuals).

The Maliki school of law is one of the dominant and widespread schools and governs or inspires much contemporary law in North Africa. The other ones are Shafie, Hanbali (dominant in Saudi Arabia) and Hanifi (dominant in Asia).

Islamic law books like Al-Muwatta differ from Fatwas issued by bodies which are of a more transient imporntance. And they discuss not just law and punishment but also ethics, codes of conduct, customs, mores etc. In this respect, they share the more encompassing nature of all ancient canons from Talmud to Dharmashastras.

Al-Muwatta covers anecdotes on topics like Hajj (pilgrimage), property laws, inheritance laws, criminal laws, dietary regulations, social relations, upkeep of places of worship, rites of sacrifice, code of conduct for war and a lot more.

It also gives a glimpse of the liberal spirit of Islam and especially of Prophet Muhammed like the Prophets ideas on compassion to animals, simple-minded folk etc.

More than that it gives an idea of customs and mores of Muhammed's time. The anecdotes also show the tolerance preached by Muhammed in contrast with zealotry of some of his followers.

This is an authenticated collection of the traditions of the prophet Mohammed. It's collected by (al-Imam) Malik Ibn Anas, one of the main four Islamic scholars in the history of Islam.

Rush's painstaking research and intimate knowledge of Kuwait and its ruling family have combined to create a classic reference.

I am trying to find this book, I am very interested in reading it. Please let me know when more copies are made. thanks

Called the best guidebook ever written, Forster's homage to Alexandria is at once informative, evocative, and nostalgic. The first half of the book is a series of vignettes on various moments and characters in the city's history. Forster immersed himself in the literature of ancient Alexandria and Greece, and it is this intimate acquaintance with the thought of the old city that gives the historical section its depth. Using a style that, though terse, always has time for a story or interesting quote, he covers the ancient library and mouseion, the Alexandrian contributions to science, the Christian and Arab periods. In the celebrated section "The Spiritual City," he outlines the religious heritage of Alexandria, demonstrating how Christianity as we know it today was largely formed in this city. Durrell drew heavily on this section for the gnostic theme that runs through the Quartet. The historical section concludes with a translation of Cavafy's "The God Abandons Antony," the first Cavafy poem to appear in print in English, and Forster considered the primary achievement of his guidebook to be the introduction of Cavafy to the English-speaking world.
Each historical section is linked to sections in the guide, and Forster claimed that "the 'sights' of Alexandria are in themselves not interesting, but they fascinate when we approach them through the past." Forster spent much time on trams in Alexandria, and the great love of his life, Mohammed el Adl, was a tram conductor on the Bacos route. It is fitting, then, that the tramlines should provide the web holding the guidebook together. Forster takes us through the city by tram, pointing out interesting buildings and sites to left and right. The guide also contains maps of the ancient and modern city, and plans of the Greco-Roman Museum and the Wadi Natrun monasteries.
The book had a difficult birth: Forster's Alexandrian publisher suffered a fire in which they thought the books had been burned. After recouping insurance compensation, they discovered that they had in fact survived. They then decided to burn the books deliberately. In 1935, members of the Royal Archaeological Society of Alexandria decided to reprint the book. Forster put some work into revisions, but this second edition did not sell well, and it was only after the book was published in the US that it achieved moderate sales.
More than any other guidebook, Forster's comes across as a labor of love. Lawrence Durrell wrote of the guidebook that Forster "must have been deeply happy, perhaps deeply in love . . . Paradoxically, if that is the word, the book is also saturated with the feeling of loneliness, that of a cultivated man talking to himself, walking by himself."

Recently read and used this book while in Alexandria. There is essential information, beautifully organized, presented and written that should be available. Introduction by Lawrence Durrell is wonderful too.

All That's Left to You is a sad reminder of all that was lost by the Palestinian people in 1948. Families were separated, yet a nation was born from their sorrow. This novella is the second in what became a trilogy of the evolution of Palestinian consciousness. It is here that their anger erupts. It is here that a nation begins to hear the plea of the author himself - salvation comes through actions, not through memories. A most interesting and important aspect of the novella is Kanafani's accurate portrayal of a woman's heart. This story must be recognized as a contribution to feminist literature. The main female character struggles within the parameters of a deeply paternalistic society under military occupation to come to terms with her sexuality and her shattered dreams. It is through her that the nation will be reborn. Kanafani utilizes excellent literary devices and the translation by Kirkpatrick is superb. The reader is advised to read Men in the Sun first if possible.

Like all other Kanafani works, this book was a tremendous pleasure to read and at the same time intensely thought-provoking. "All that's left to you" contains, in addition to the title novella, a selection of Kanafani's short stories. All the stories in this anthology share the feature for which Kanafani has no contestant: the seamless changes of voice within a story, often from paragraph to paragraph, sometimes from sentence to sentence. Thus we explore the trials and tribulations of the five main characters in "All that's left to you", not as outsiders or even as one of the characters, but as each one of the characters in turn. The reader is made to travel invisibly from the mind of one of the characters to that of another, miles away, to learn what they are both thinking at the same instant. This is as close to a drama or a movie as one can get in a short story, or perhaps even better. It is also interesting to see how certain threads unify the narrative. Time, for instance, whom Kanafani even declared at the start to be actually a character, is one such thread. The layers of symbolism in the story destine it to be very deep reading for decades to come. Yet the novella is so fascinating, it is very difficult to put the book down. The short stories in the anthology are equally fascinating, each in its own right. They don't lack from the changes in voice that is present in "All that's left to you", and they also have their share of critical plot twists right at the end of the story. Thus be prepared to completely change your perspective after reading the last sentence of each story.

Iraq, well informed and eminently fair; it concludes with excellent advice, particularly regarding the need for Washington to continue supporting European integration and a collective European defense effort. What the authors make clear, without shrillness or grandstanding, is that "the European complaint that the American decision-making process and diplomacy about Iraq violated reasonable alliance norms and expectations is valid." They prove this point with careful analysis of what happened in 2002 and 2003 and with a short, sharp reminder of previous alliance crises and how they were overcome. This is not to say that the authors side with France and Germany; their criticism of those countries' diplomacy is often quite stinging. But the fact that the United States is the "indispensable power" does not mean that its allies must support it in every case. As Gordon and Shapiro write, "when taken too far, assertive leadership can quickly turn into arrogant unilateralism, to the point where resentful others become less likely to follow the lead of the United States." "Even a country as powerful as the United States," they explain, "needs a certain level of legitimacy and consent." And indeed, it is clear that U.S. rashness and roughness in its handling of Iraq has weakened its legitimacy and, as a result, badly damaged its interests.

The importance of persistent conflict in Iraq throughout the 2004 presidential campaign makes this volume an essential contribution to the on-going public debate about the Bush Administration's foreign policy, particularly its global war on terrorism. Gordon and Shapiro carefully analyze the motivations and perceptions of the political elites on each continent as well as the opinions of their publics as the Iraq crisis unfolded. The initial chapters set the historical context for an analysis of the deepening discord within the Atlantic Alliance, which came to a head after September 11. The second part analyzes the sources of disagreement regarding Iraq and the reasons for divergence among the members in the transatlantic relationship. The final chapter makes several constructive recommendations to restore the Atlantic Alliance.

These recommendations are particularly significant in light of findings reported after the book's publication. Recent confirmations question intelligence regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) capability, notably the aluminum tubes cited as evidence that Saddam Hussein was rebuilding Iraq's nuclear weapons program. The fact that these aluminum tubes were likely intended for small artillery rockets, not nuclear use, necessitates a more comprehensive and critical public inquiry. There is an ethical imperative for the American public and the world to receive the information that allows citizens to question intelligently why military action was taken in Iraq. In light of the mounting casualties on all sides, this is a civic responsibility that speaks to America's founding as a republican government, not a reluctant empire. In question are the Bush Administration's doctrine of preventive war and its insistence on the need for regime change, not containment, in the Middle East. This volume underscores the Bush Administration's reliance on military action to rid the region of terrorists. The fact that this reliance occurs without a steadfast pursuit of Middle East peace through a US commitment to the Road Map defies a basic premise of The 9/11 Commission Report's findings. The Report emphasizes that a global strategy to protect the nation should be a balanced one that uses all elements of national power, including diplomacy, intelligence and education to reach out to the larger Muslim world.

Perhaps the most relevant aspect of this case study analysis is the explanation of allied differences. The American faith in precision technology and military prowess is contrasted with the European willingness to accept, contain and try to deter the threat Iraq represented under the dictatorial leadership of Saddam Hussein. More fundamentally, Europe's, and particularly Germany's, awareness of historical mistakes in the rush to militarism is opposed by an increasing American proclivity to accept military force as just another tool in its global strategy against terrorism. This difference brings to mind the influence of the Bush Administration's distinction between a September 10th and a September 12th mentality. For a government that initially shied away from nation building, the undaunted belief in the creation of democracy with bombs in the Middle East flies in the face of French and British experiences with colonialism there. Moreover, this book's analysis is helpful as we evaluate whether success in Iraq is indeed possible, and if so, whether it can decisively define a new stage for Middle East peace as an alternative to negotiations with Arafat.

More fundamentally, this volume offers readers the opportunity to assess the impact of a consistency that has emerged in America's domestic and global policies since 9/11. Cornel West terms this "escalating authoritarianism" in his recent book, Democracy Matters. On the domestic front, the democratic public discourse so vital to the nation's capacity for renewal is at risk. The nature of the US popular debate about the war in Iraq, critical or passive, is a litmus test in this regard. It demonstrates the extent to which Americans are able to display a responsible consciousness about the nation's military involvement there. This public awareness is significant because, as Allies at War convincingly explains, the Atlantic Alliance is not doomed to disintegrate. The context in which the Alliance must evolve has changed, however, given the absence of the Cold War and current threats to world peace, including "out-of-area" ethnic conflicts as well as nationalism, which, in the case of the Beslan tragedy, is not always distinguished from global terrorism. This volume's timely conclusion should not be taken for granted amidst the factual confusion, media spin and political rhetoric of the 2004 presidential campaign. Gordon and Shapiro are right to assert that the post 9/11 context requires leaders and populations in Europe and the United States to understand the challenge they face: to adapt the Atlantic Alliance as a matter of choice as well as necessity.

Third Battalion, Third Marines has recently served valiantly in Afghanistan and Iraq. As always, they served their nation with honor and valor.

3/3 was the battalion of Ollie North during Vietnam. It was also my battalion. I joined 3/3 not long after it returned from Desert Storm, and I was trained, hazed, and befriended by the men described in this book. I heard many of these stories firsthand from the grunts who lived it, and I can tell you this book is not only accurate but also well written.

While this is the story of a unit in the First Gulf War, it had direct bearing on what's going on over there now. This story follows the Third Battalion of the Third Marines (The 3/3). This is one of the famous units in the USMC having fought at Bougainville, Guam, Iwo Jima, then in Vietnam and in 1990 in the Persian Gulf.

The author has a great ability to take oral histories from a wide number of people and put them together with his own commentary to form and interesting tale that flows very well while conveying the tone and material from the oral interview.

During the war the 3/3 fought in the battle of Khafji, then were the first to penetrate the Iraqi wire and minefield to provide flank security for the beginning of the allied offensive. It is a remarkable tale of the events in the war as seen be the members of one of the fighting units.