When he was assassinated in 1896, Nasir al-Din Shah had sat on the Peacock throne for nearly half a century. A colourful and complex figure, he is frequently portrayed as indolent and self-indulgent. Yet he was in many ways an effective ruler who displayed exceptional resilience in the face of dilemmas and vulnerabilities shared by most monarchs of the Islamic world in the 19th century. This biography - the first in English - traces Nasir al-Din Shah's transformation from an insecure crown prince and later an erratic boy-king to a ruler with substantial control over his government and foreign policy. It also paints a picture of the political culture that determined Nasir al-Din's behaviour and ultimately his conception of government. Based on research into public and private papers, the book offers an interpretation of the significance of Nasir al-Din Shah and the way in which the Iranian monarchy, the centrepiece of an ancient political order, withstood and adjusted to the challenges of modern times.

The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah and the Iranian Monarchy

History

Amanat, Abbas

Middle East

Tauris Academic Studies

For thousands of years many ethnicities, languages and religions have coexisted in Iran, and continue to do so despite traumatic events and transient ideologies. But since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the West has been virtually cut off from that country's culture. Despite severe difficulties imposed by social, political and economic upheavals as well as war, repression and censorship, a veritable cultural renewal has taken place in Iran over the past quarter century, not only in literature but in music, art and cinema. Now, for the first time, we have in translation selections from the work of over forty writers from three generations, both men and women, which offer an overview of contemporary trends in Persian literature and go a long way toward filling a huge gap in our knowledge. This rich and varied collection - or to use the Persian term golchine, a bouquet - provides a much needed window onto a largely undiscovered branch of world literature. "Strange Times in Persia" will bring literary enjoyment as well as a fuller understanding of Iran's complex contemporary culture.

Strange Times in Persia: An Anthology of Contemorary Iranina Literature

Comics & Graphic Novels

Graphic Novels

The Eastern Question, as it was termed by the European Powers in the nineteenth century, was a debate primarily concerned with the issue of ""what to do with the Turk?"". The Ottoman Empire had become known as the ""sick man of Europe"" following its gradual decline since the eighteenth century, and its demise would be highly problematic for the crowned heads of Europe. This unique book focuses on the intellectual and political dynamics of the first Ottoman political opposition in the modern sense, the so-called ""Young Ottomans."" In the process it narrates an alternative version of the Eastern Question as experienced and told by its Eastern observers and critics. Nazan Cicek shows how an important section of the newly-rising semi-autonomous Ottoman Muslim Turkish intelligentsia in the second half of the nineteenth century effectively answered the alternative question of ""what to do with the West?"".

The Young Ottomans: Turkish Critics of the Eastern Question in the Late Nineteenth Century (Library of Ottoman Studies)

Cicek, Nazan

Asia

For Palestine's diaspora and exiled communities, the internet has become an important medium for the formation of Palestinian national and transnational identity. Miriyam Aouragh looks at the internet as both a space and an instrument for linking Palestinian diasporas in Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon. She closely examines the uses and limits of internet technology under conditions of war, along with the ways in which virtual participation enables the generation of new ideals for political reconciliation and self-determination. Through the internet, participants reconstruct a virtual ‘Palestinian homeland’, gain a space for recovering the past, for overcoming issues of mobility, and for generating social change. This book provides a new angle on those affected by the Israeli-Palestine conflict, and furthers understanding about the connection between electronic media, politics and national identity more widely.

Palestine Online: Transnationalism, the Internet and Construction of Identity (Library of Modern Middle East Studies)

Aouragh, Miriyam

Prince Hans-Adam of Liechtenstein is able to look at the modern nation-state from many different angles: as a head of state; as a politician, who had to win popular votes in a direct democracy; as a businessman active in different continents; and as an historian who has studied the influence of military technology, transportation and the economy on the workings of the state. The State in the Third Millennium analyzes the forces that have shaped human history in the past and are likely to do so for the foreseeable future. These include religions, ideologies, military technology and economics. Prince Hans-Adam explores ways to make the traditional democratic constitutional state both more democratic and more efficient. He also discusses strategies on how to realise worldwide the modern democratic constitutional state in the third millennium. He observes that citizens should no longer be viewed as servants of the state, but rather that states be converted into benevolent service companies which serve the people as their customers. This is an elegant, original and lucidly argued work which will attract all students and observers of modern statecraft.

The State in the Third Millenium

Hans-Adam, Prince

Historical Study & Educational Resources

Despite growing interest in the Baha’is of Iran, research on the history of this often-persecuted minority community has been limited by the accessibility of primary sources. ‘The Baha’is of Iran, Transcaspia and the Caucasus’ will help to fill this gap by assembling for the first time original material from Russian archives in Moscow and St. Petersburg. These sources provide crucial information concerning the rise of the early Baha’i community - and their precursors, the Babis - as well as their relations with local, national and foreign authorities.  This comprehensive two-volume set showcases in Volume 1 letters from the Rozen collection from diplomats, army officers and scholars, describing developments concerning the Baha’is in Iran and Russia. Furthermore, in Volume 2 it draws together the reports and correspondence of Russian diplomats and officials, detailing the dramatic events of the persecutions of the Babis and Baha’is and the reactions of the Iranian and Russian states to these communities. Together these two volumes thus provide not only insights into the history of the Babis and Baha’is in Iran, Transcaspia and the Caucasus, but also the perspective of one of the players of the Great Game of diplomacy and power in the region.The authors present the complete texts in their original languages, providing both annotated translations and analytical introductions which supply background information on the Babi and Baha’i religions as well the personalities and events represented in the volumes and the significance of Babi and Baha’i studies within Russian Orientalism. Combining original sources with discerning analysis, this set is an invaluable resource for scholars, researchers and all readers interested in Babi and Baha’i history, the history of religion and minorities, Russo-Persian relations or Qajar Iran.

The Baha'is of Iran, Transcaspia and the Caucasus, Two Volume Set (International Library of Iranian Studies, 26, 27)

The collapse of the Ottoman Empire resulted in the birth of new nation states in the Balkans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Conflicting Loyalties in the Balkans explores the effects of the Ottoman reform era upon Balkan societies in order to shed much-needed light on the history of this region during the early nation-state period. Focusing on developments which go beyond the over-researched dimension of political or elite discourse, this book offers insights into the complex ways in which Balkan societies were transformed from different regional viewpoints -- focusing on the interplay between Great Power politics, state reforms and social dynamics on the ground. A thorough investigation of the conflicting loyalties which has shaped the political framework of the post-Ottoman Balkans, this is an important and fascinating insight into the logic and contradictions of daily life in a crucial period of Balkan and Ottoman history.

Conflicting Loyalties in the Balkans: The Great Powers, the Ottoman Empire and Nation-building (Library of Ottoman Studies)

Europe

Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273) is the most famous exponent of the mystical tradition in Islam and venerated as "Mevlana," "our master." The still flourishing Mevlevi order of dervishes, famous for their ecstatic music and dance, was organized by his eldest son on the basis of Rumi's teaching and practice. He spent most of his life in Konya in Rum (modern Anatolia), whence the name "Rumi." His longest work, the Mathnavi, has held its reputation in the eastern lands of the Islamic world as the most recited and venerated text after the Qur'an. Echoes of the Muslim Scripture, and traces of Rumi's education as a traditional Muslim jurist or faqih, are apparent throughout his writings. The resurgence of interest in Rumi in the West has evolved into a cult, especially on American college campuses. As Schimmel explains, this cult does not do justice to the profound spiritual passion and insights of the Mathnavi and Rumi's Divan. In this concise, readable essay, she sketches the major landmarks in Rumi's life and the influences on it, the religious and cultural background of his poetic Sufism, the dominant strands of imagery and the range of tone and anecdote that animate his spiritual world. She explains why Rumi, as poet and mystic, must be understood in the Persian literary and the Islamic religious traditions to which he belonged. It is through those traditions that he experienced and expressed the Divine Love that the peoples of all faith traditions immediately recognize and affirm. The closing chapters review recent scholarship and translations of Rumi's works, in West and East, and answer the question "What does Rumi mean to us in the modern world?"

Rumi: Makers of Islamic Civilization

Politics & Social Sciences

Annemarie Schimmel

Social Sciences

The public image of Arabs in America has been radically affected by the ""war on terror."" But stereotypes of Arabs, manifested for instance in Orientalist representations of Sheherazade and the Arabian Nights in Hollywood, have prevailed for much longer. Here Somaya Sabry argues that the Arab-American experience has been powerfully shaped by racial discourse and Orientalism, and is further complicated today by hostility towards Arabs in post-9/11 America. She shows how Arab-American women writers and performers confront and subvert racial stereotypes in this charged context by recasting representations of Sheherazade. Shedding new light on Arab-American women’s negotiations of identity, this book will be indispensable for all those interested in the Arab-American world, American ethnic studies and race, as well as diaspora studies, women’s studies, literature, cultural studies and performance studies.

Arab-American Women's Writing and Performance: Orientalism, Race and the Idea of the Arabian Nights (International Library of Cultural Studies)

Sabry, Somaya Sami

In the depths of the Cold War and in the wake of Britain's announcement of its intention to withdraw 'East of Suez' by the end of 1971, Britain was faced with the stark reality of a Marxist rebellion in the Dhofar province of Oman. State Building and Counter Insurgency in Oman offers an exploration of the attempts by officials and politicians in Whitehall and the Gulf to reconcile attempts to protect national interests and create an effective, centralized Omani administration and security bodies, whilst maintaining the image of strategic withdrawal and the sovereign independence of Oman. This book thus provides vital information and analysis for students and researchers of Middle East History and Politics, the decline and end of empire and the policymaking processes at the heart of an imperial and military withdrawal.

Statebuilding and Counterinsurgency in Oman: Political, Military and Diplomatic Relations at the End of Empire (Library of Modern Middle East Studies)

Worrall, James

Africa

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