Although the political situation in Palestine is more serious than ever, contemporary Palestinian art and film are, paradoxically, becoming more humorous in their responses. Laughter in Occupied Pales
The countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean— Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria—have undergone major turmoil in recent years, with civil war, occupation and upri
In the years following Nasser’s rise to power, the demographic landscape and the economy of Egypt underwent a profound change. Related to the migration of diverse communities, that had a distinguished
The so-called ‘Cedar Revolution’ in Lebanon, triggered by the assassination of the former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in February 2005, brought to an end three decades of Syrian military presence in t
Scholar, mystic and visionary, Ahmad Ibn 'Alwan lived through the transition from Ayyubid to Rasulid rule in thirteenth-century Yemen. He was well known in his time for his critique of the ruling elit
Islamic commercial and financial practice has not experienced the trial-and-error style of development that has characterised the development that has characterised the development of common law in t
A key mechanism of apartheid in South Africa was the set of restrictions placed on the movements of Africans; in particular, African women were subject to lives of daily surveillance and highly regula
What is the place of young people in society today? This book presents a searching and comprehensive picture of youth, demonstrating both its diversity and singularity, and helping to dispel many of t
The early seventeenth century was a time of great literature—the era of Cervantes and Shakespeare—but also of international tension and heightened diplomacy. This book looks at the relations between S
Arabic and Persian panegyric poetry was one of the most important genres of literature in the medieval Middle East and Central Asia. Jocelyn Sharlet argues that panegyric poetry is important not only
After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's government encouraged substantial American investment in education and aid. It was argued that Turkey needed the technical skills and weal
Turkey's process of modernization developed rapidly during the second half of the 20th Century. New social and legal reforms were institutionalized and political and economic changes located the count
Throughout the Cold War, Africa was a theater for superpower rivalry. That the U.S and the Soviet Union used countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to their own advantage is well-known. Sub-Saharan countries
The 'neoliberal' economic policy of Erdogan's AKP Party, which has delivered extraordinary growth to Turkish GDP over the last decade, has been one of the foundations of the party's popular appeal. He
At the height of the Cold War, the John F. Kennedy administration designed an ambitious plan for the Middle East-its aim was to seek rapprochement with Nasser's Egypt in order to keep the Arab world n
Animals were omnipresent in the everyday life of classical Greece, and its culture was not merely anthropocentric. Through close textual analysis of ancient Greek literature, the authors present a nua
Even before the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Turkic communities, living in states newly independent from Ottoman rule, were 'protected' by the Ottomans. With the creation of the new Turkish Republi
The figure of the shaman has always been a prominent motif within the Islamic world, particularly in relation to the mystical domain of Sufism. Here, Thierry Zarcone and Angela Hobart offer a vigorous
India's endemic gender-based violence has received increased international scrutiny and provoked waves of domestic protest and activism. In recent years, related studies on India and South Asia have p
The profound effects of the British Empire's actions in the Arab World during the First World War can be seen echoing through the history of the 20th century. The uprising sparked by the Husayn-McMaho
Hafiz of Shiraz has long been celebrated by many as the greatest Persian poet within the annals of world literature. During the fourteenth century he was master of the Persian 'ghazal'—the pre-eminent
With full-frontal genitalia, erections, even actual sex featuring increasingly in films, this explicitness in presentation has caused critical consternation and accusations that such film narratives a
Music is a complex and multi-faceted art form. Yet too often it is regarded as discrete and self-contained. The chapters in this groundbreaking book explore different aspects of how music may shape so
From the political dissolution of the Abb?sid Caliphate in the mid-ninth century to the beginning of the thirteenth century, the Persianate dynasties of Islamic Central Asia constituted the political
Historians since Herodotus and Thucydides have claimed that the year 483 BCE marked a turning point in the history of Athens. For it was then that Themistocles mobilized the revenues from the city’s h
American dependence on foreign oil has long been described as a serious threat to U.S. national security, and continues to be a political flashpoint even as domestic fracking eases the US’ reliance on
Public relations and journalism have had a difficult relationship for over a century, characterised by mutual dependence and – often – mutual distrust. The two professions have vied with each other fo
The narratives of disease, hygiene, developments in medicine and the growth of urban environments are fundamental to the discipline of modern history. Here, the eminent urban historian Bill Luckin re-
Far from having to "scram from Africa" following the abandonment of her "East of Suez" role, and despite the problems of Mau Mau, and even the Suez debacle on a larger international stage, Britain con
The final weeks of World War I saw a revolutionary upheaval in Europe, as old empires collapsed and new, self-proclaimed ‘nation-states’ emerged in their place. For its advocates, the Yug
This book brings to life Victorian Britain's conceptions and misconceptions of the Muslim World using a thorough investigation of varied cultural sources of the period. She discovers the prevailing re
Since its doomed maiden voyage in April 1912, the Titanic has become a monumental icon of the twentieth century and has inspired a wealth of interpretations across literature, art and media. This book
The Polar North is known to be home to large gas and oil reserves and its position holds significant trading and military advantages, yet the territorial boundaries of the region remain ill-defined. I
Horatio Herbert Kitchener, Earl Kitchener of Khartoum (1850-1916) is one of the most important figures in the history of the British Empire. Beginning as Royal Engineer in the 1870s he would end his c
Modern science and its technology are the children of the seventeenth-century. But the bold investigative experimentation and scientific systems of thought that this era spawned were in turn thoroughl
Fashion reveals not only who we are, but whom we aspire to be. From 1775 to 1925, artists in Europe were especially attuned to the gaps between appearance and reality, participating in and often criti
In the English language World War I has largely been analysed and understood through the lens of the Western Front. This book addresses this imbalance by examining the war in Eastern and Central Europ
Wahhabism is often described as one of the most conservative branches of Islam and its fundamentalist approach seen as fuelling jihadist extremism. But what is the theological basis of Wahhabism? How
