mideast war

Hardcover. NY, Cambridge University Press, 1st, 2014, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover in pictorial boards, 318 pages. As the architect of the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini remains one of the most inspirational and enigmatic figures of the twentieth century. The revolution placed Iran at the forefront of Middle East politics and of the Islamic revival. Twenty years after his death, Khomeini is revered as a spiritual and political figurehead in Iran and in large swathes of the Islamic world, while in the West he is remembered by many as a dictator and as the instigator of Islamist confrontation. Arshin Adib-Moghaddam brings together both distinguished and emerging scholars in this comprehensive volume, which covers all aspects of Khomeini's life and critically examines Khomeini the politician, the philosopher, and the spiritual leader. The book details Khomeini's early years in exile from Iran, the revolution itself, and events that took place thereafter including the hostage crisis and the Iran-Iraq war. Lastly, the book considers his legacy in Iran - where Khomeini's image has been used by both reformist and conservative politicians to develop their own agendas - and further afield in other parts of the Islamic world and in the West. Written by scholars from varying disciplinary backgrounds, the book will prove invaluable to students and general readers interested in the life and times of Khomeini and the politics of Islam that he inspired.

Hardcover. London, John Murray, 2nd pr., 1947, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, 254 pages, index, b&w illustrations, double-page map. Light beige cloth, gilt lettering on spine, top of spine with fraying, light spotting to front cover otherwise clean. An illuminating record of travel in the Aden Protectorate in 1939 on the eve of World War II by a Dutch scholar of the region and it's people.

Softcover. Ithaca NY, Cornell University Press, reprint, 2004, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 283 pages. A particularly vicious and bloody civil war has racked Algeria for a decade. Amnesty International notes that since 1992, in a population of 28 million, 80,000 people have been reported killed, and the actual total is almost certainly higher. This terrible war overshadows Algeria's long and complex history and its prominence on the world economic stage-second in size among African nations, Algeria has the longest Mediterranean coastline and contains the world's fifth-largest natural gas reserves. Algeria, 1830-2000 is a comprehensive narrative history of the country. Benjamin Stora, widely recognized as the leading expert on Algeria, presents the story of this turbulent area from the start of formal French colonialism in the early nineteenth century, through the prolonged war for independence in the latter 1950s, to the internal strife of the present day.This book adapts and updates three short volumes published originally in French by La Decouverte. For this English edition, Stora has written a new introductory chapter on Algeria's colonial period (1830-1954) and has revised the final section to bring the volume up to date.

Hardcover. NY, Dragonfly Books, 1st, 2010, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 32 pages. The inspiring story of an Iraqi librarian's courageous fight to save books from the Basra Central Library before it was destroyed in the war.It is 2003 and Alia Muhammad Baker, the chief librarian of the Central Library in Basra, Iraq, has grown worried given the increased likelihood of war in her country. Determined to preserve the irreplacable records of the culture and history of the land on which she lives from the destruction of the war, Alia undertakes a courageous and extremely dangerous task of spiriting away 30,000 books from the library to a safe place.Told in dramatic graphic-novel panels by acclaimed cartoonist Mark Alan Stamaty, Alia's Mission celebrates the importance of books and the freedom to read, while examining the impact of war on a country and its people.

Hardcover. NY, Dragonfly Books, 1st, 2010, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, hardcover, 32 pages. The inspiring story of an Iraqi librarian's courageous fight to save books from the Basra Central Library before it was destroyed in the war.It is 2003 and Alia Muhammad Baker, the chief librarian of the Central Library in Basra, Iraq, has grown worried given the increased likelihood of war in her country. Determined to preserve the irreplacable records of the culture and history of the land on which she lives from the destruction of the war, Alia undertakes a courageous and extremely dangerous task of spiriting away 30,000 books from the library to a safe place.Told in dramatic graphic-novel panels by acclaimed cartoonist Mark Alan Stamaty, Alia's Mission celebrates the importance of books and the freedom to read, while examining the impact of war on a country and its people.

Hardcover. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1st, 2006, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 226 pages. Gilt title on spine. Clean inside and out. From the dust jacket: "...in its decision to invade Iraq, the Bush administration failed in its stewardship of American Foreign policy." Clean copy.

Hardcover. London, Verso Books, 1st, 2020, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 425 pages. The Israeli army, officially named the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), was established in 1948 by David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, who believed that 'the whole nation is the army'. In his mind, the IDF was to be an army like no other. It was the instrument that might transform a diverse population into a new people. Since the foundation of Israel, therefore, the IDF has been the largest, richest and most influential institution in Israel's Jewish society and is the nursery of its social, economic and political ruling class. In this fascinating history, Bresheeth charts the evolution of the IDF from the Nakba to wars in Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq and the continued assaults upon Gaza, and shows that the state of Israel has been formed out of its wars. He also gives an account of his own experiences as a young conscript during the 1967 war. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, powerHouse Books, 1st, 2002, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket. 240 pages. Arms Against Fury examines the dramatic struggle of the Afghan people through the lens of Magnum photographers, dating back to co-founder George Rodger's documentation of the country's role in World War II. Ever since, Magnum's intrepid photographers have crisscrossed the country's striking landscape from the Central Asian steppes to the parched southern desert by way of the Hindu Kush mountains surrounding Kabul and the adjacent Panjshir Valley. As early as the 1950s, Eve Arnold and Marc Riboud filed unprecedented stories from a legendary Shangri-La, showing a small kingdom struggling for statehood against the forces of underdevelopment and unfortunate geographic position during the Cold War. The ultimate overthrow of the monarchy and brutal liquidation of Afghanistan's constitutional government in 1978 heralded the arrival of Soviet-style communism. Peasants in Nuristan rebelled immediately and initiated a jihad that was covered first by Raymond Depardon and then by Steve McCurry, and later by renowned photojournalist Abbas, who also focused on the progress of the mujahedin, who eventually faced a massive Red Army invasion and savage aerial bombardments. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, powerHouse Books, 1st, 2002, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 240 pages. Arms Against Fury examines the dramatic struggle of the Afghan people through the lens of Magnum photographers, dating back to co-founder George Rodger's documentation of the country's role in World War II. Ever since, Magnum's intrepid photographers have crisscrossed the country's striking landscape from the Central Asian steppes to the parched southern desert by way of the Hindu Kush mountains surrounding Kabul and the adjacent Panjshir Valley. As early as the 1950s, Eve Arnold and Marc Riboud filed unprecedented stories from a legendary Shangri-La, showing a small kingdom struggling for statehood against the forces of underdevelopment and unfortunate geographic position during the Cold War. The ultimate overthrow of the monarchy and brutal liquidation of Afghanistan's constitutional government in 1978 heralded the arrival of Soviet-style communism. Peasants in Nuristan rebelled immediately and initiated a jihad that was covered first by Raymond Depardon and then by Steve McCurry, and later by renowned photojournalist Abbas, who also focused on the progress of the mujahedin, who eventually faced a massive Red Army invasion and savage aerial bombardments.

Softcover. Manchester University Press , 1st pbk, 2012, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 416 pages, b&w illustrations. During the Algerian War the French army engaged in the 'emancipation' of Muslim women as part of a strategy of subverting the nationalist movement whilst also inflicting widespread violence. First comprehensive study in English of the role of Muslim women during the Algerian war, bringing a unique interdisciplinary approach to the subject. Clean copy.

Hardcover. London, George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode, 1st, 1873, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 699 pages. Hardcover. Beautifully rebound first edition. Blue cloth covers with title in gilt on black leather spine label. Features black & white illustrations and full color tipped-in plates. Clean, tight. A very nice copy.

Hardcover. Washington DC, Insignia Publishing Company, 2nd pr., 1998, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 347 pages. The first book about Gulf War Syndrome. An intensely personal account of the struggle of two dedicated public servants to expose one of the largest government cover-ups of modern history. A former CIA analyst exposes the officially sanctioned deceptions that have made Gulf War veterans the walking wounded of Desert Storm. NOTE: The first blank page has been torn out but does not affect the rest of the book, in clean condition.

Hardcover. NY, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1st, 2012, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 321 pages. In spring 2011, Anthony Shadid was one of four New York Times reporters captured in Libya, cuffed and beaten, as that country was seized by revolution. When he was freed, he went home. Not to Boston or Beirut--where he lives-- or to Oklahoma City, where his Lebanese-American family had settled and where he was raised. Instead, he returned to his great-grandfather's estate, a house that, over three years earlier, Shadid had begun to rebuild. House of Stone is the story of a battle-scarred home and a war correspondent's jostled spirit, and of how reconstructing the one came to fortify the other. In this poignant and resonant memoir, the author of the award-winning Night Draws Near creates a mosaic of past and present, tracing the house's renewal alongside his family's flight from Lebanon and resettlement in America. In the process, Shadid memorializes a lost world, documents the shifting Middle East, and provides profound insights into this volatile landscape. House of Stone is an unforgettable meditation on war, exile, rebirth, and the universal yearning for home. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Oxford University Press, 1st, 1990, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 199 pages. This book examines Syria's religious, intellectual, and political history during the period of transformation before World War I. Focusing on an attempt to reform Islamic belief and practice at the turn of the century, Commins shows how the reformers used debates over the religious law of Islam to advance their visions of a progressive Islamic state. Based on a wide variety of previously unpublished sources, the book will shed new light on a period that is of considerable importance for the modern history of the Middle East. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Syracuse University Press, 1st, 1987, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 350 pages. Describes Israel's use of spies in Lebanon during the seventies, the secret relations between Israel and Jordan, and U.S. secret channels to the PLO. Posner focuses on violence and terrorism employed by the Palestinians in their quest for nationhood, and on inter-communal violence in the Middle East in general and more specifically in Lebanon. He treats the little-known Circassion community in Jordan, that community's role in the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Sadat peace initiative, and the role of the United States in seeking a peaceful resolution of the civil war in Lebanon. A good book to gain a perspective on contemporary diplomacy and Middle East politics. Clean copy.

Softcover. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1st pbk, 2011, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 393 pages. Reaching beyond sensational headlines, Land of the Unconquerable at last offers a three-dimensional portrait of Afghan women. In a series of wide-ranging, deeply reflective essays, accomplished scholars, humanitarian workers, politicians, and journalists-most with extended experience inside Afghanistan-examine the realities of life for women in both urban and rural settings. They address topics including food security, sex work, health, marriage, education, poetry, politics, prisoners, and community development. Eschewing stereotypes about the burqa, the contributors focus instead on women's empowerment and agency, and their struggles for peace and justice in the face of a brutal ongoing war. A fuller picture of Afghanistan's women past and present emerges, leading to social policy suggestions and pragmatic solutions for a peaceful future. Review copy stamp on top edge otherwise like new.

Hardcover. Stockport UK, Dewi Lewis, 1st, 2013, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 80 pages, 40 color images by Simoneau documenting his relationship with Caroline Annandale. Clean. No dust jacket issued. Simoneau, a Montreal-based photographer, chronicles his long romantic relationship with Caroline Annandale. Having met at a photography workshop in 2000, Simoneau and Annandale engaged in what the book's description calls a "feverish" relationship, which took a turn on September 11th 2001, the date of the World Trade Center attacks in New York. Shortly afterwards, Annandale enlisted in the US Army and was shipped off to Iraq. Simoneau, the photographer of this love story, stayed behind. Simoneau does not present what might be expected from a 'war' book, nor does he delve into the gender role switch of the female partner going to combat while the male stays back on the homefront. Instead, his view of war becomes a unique assembly of what he sees and feels from a distance. Removed from the actual conflict, but connected emotionally to Caroline Annandale, Simoneau's view takes on a limited frame: he can see only what is sent to him or what is represented in the media during wartime. Love and War therefore is a book about war, and yet, the war is defined by the absence it's created in Simoneau's life.

Softcover. Austin TX, University Of Texas Press, reprint, 1978, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 400+ pages. A collection of autobiographical and biographical writings by and about Middle Eastern women. Many of the selections have been translated by the editors from Arabic, Persian or French. Illustrated with b/w photos.

Hardcover. London, Hurst and Co., 1st, 2014, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 169 pages. In mid-2012 the previously almost forgotten Syrian Kurds suddenly emerged as a potential game-changer in the country's civil war when in an attempt to consolidate its increasingly desperate position the Assad government abruptly withdrew its troops from the major Kurdish areas in Syria. The Kurds in Syria had suddenly won autonomy, a situation that has huge implications for neighboring Turkey and the near independent Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq. Indeed, their precipitous rise may prove a tipping-point that alters the boundaries imposed on the Middle East by the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916. These important events and what they portend for the future are scrutinized by the renowned scholar of the Kurds Michael Gunter. He also analyses the sudden rise of Salih Muslim and his Democratic Union Party (PYD) - which was created by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and remains affiliated to it - and the extremely complex and deadly fighting between factions of the Syrian Opposition affiliated with al-Qaeda such as the Jabhat al-Nusra jihadists and the PYD, among others. Clean copy.

hardcover. New York, Cambridge University Press, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 314 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. SIGNED AND INSCRIBED ON FRONT FLY LEAF BY JOOST (AUTHOR) Clean, tight copy with only minor wear to dust jacket. In March 1988, during the Iran-Iraq war, thousands were killed in a chemical attack on a town in Iraqi Kurdistan. Both sides accused the other. Gradually it emerged that Saddam Hussein, with the tacit support of his western allies, was responsible. This book tells the story of the gassing of Halabja, and how Iraq amassed chemical weapons to target Iranian soldiers and Kurdish villagers as America looked the other way. Today, as the Middle East sinks further into turmoil, these policies are coming back to haunt the West.

Softcover. NY, Oxford University Press, reprint, 1992, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover in pictorial wraps, 184 pages, coloe illustrations. From before the days of Moses up through the 1960s, slavery was a fact of life in the Middle East. Pagans, Jews, Christians, and Muslims bought and sold at the slave markets for millennia, trading the human plunder of wars and slave raids that reached from the Russian steppes to the African jungles. But if the Middle East was one of the last regions to renounce slavery, how do we account for its--and especially Islam's--image of racial harmony? How did these long years of slavery affect racial relations? In Race and Slavery in the Middle East, Bernard Lewis explores these questions and others, examining the history of slavery in law, social thought, and practice over the last two millennia. Bright, clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Clarion, 1st, 1992, hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Color paintings by Ted Lewin. A ten-year-old Lebanese boy balances his life in a war-torn city. Lewin's watercolor illustrations capture contemporary Beirut with stunning clarity and drama.

Softcover. NY/Oxford, Osprey Publishing, 1st, 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 64 pages illustrated in color and b&w. An unrivaled illustrated reference source on fighting men and commanders of the period. The Sassanians ruled the last great imperial Empire of Persia before the Arab conquests of the 7th century. Rome's only equal in the classical world, the Sassanian Empire had an enormous impact on the development of architecture, mythology, arts, music, military tactics and technology. Within the Sassanian military, the cavalry was the most influential element, and Sassanian cavalry tactics were adopted by the Romans, Arabs, and Turks. Clean copy.