Recent Publications

Arab-Israeli Conflict

The Yom Kippur War: Politics, Legacy, and Diplomacy, ed. by Asaf Siniver. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. 320 pages. $28. The Yom Kippur War is a collection of academic essays compiled by Asaf Siniver to create a comprehensive, retrospective summary, explanation, and analysis of 1973 Arab-Israeli War, a pivotal moment in the modern history of ongoing Middle East conflict. The essays cover implications of the war for the parties both directly and indirectly involved in the conflict, each focusing on a particular aspect or alternative perspective — ranging from historiography of the war to its shaping of oil politics. (GC)

Palestine and Palestinians

Refugees of the Revolution: Experiences of Palestinian Exile, by Diana Allan. Stanford, CA: Standford University Press, 2014. 328 pages. $85 cloth; $24.95 paper. Diana Allan’s ethnographic study provides insight into the day-to-day struggles of the residents of the Shatila Palestinian refugee camp in southern Beirut. Through her direct experience in the camp and extensive interactions with the refugees, Allan applies a phenomological lens to create a collection of narratives based on qualitative research. Refugees of the Revolution weaves stories of the pragmatic survival of Shatila’s refugees, to highlight the wider implications of marginalization. (EG)

Current Flow: The Electrification of Palestine, by Ronen Shamir. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2013. 224 pages. $45. Author Ronen Shamir undertakes an analytical examination of the electrification of colonial Palestine in the 1920s through actor-network theory. Shamir argues that electrical connections shape spatial regions and are important to group formation and social theory. Current Flow seeks to provide a historical sociology-based perspective on the interaction between the technical aspects of constructing an electrical power grid with the political and social implications of such an effort. In a book useful for scholars studying ethnonational relations and modernization, Shamir’s narrative highlights the unique role electrification plays in transforming society. (EG)

Turkey

Understanding Turkey’s Kurdish Question, ed. by Fevzi Bilgin and Ali Sarihan. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2013. 272 pages. $74.99. This volume traces the evolution of the Kurdish question in order to better understand the present-day situation of the Kurds in Turkey. Understanding Turkey’s Kurdish Question explores the nature of Kurdish nationalism, the primacy of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in representing the Kurdish cause within Turkey, and civil society within the Kurdish region. The book outlines the interactions between the Turkish government and the Kurdish movement with a particular focus on the PKK’s violent opposition against the Turkish state. It concludes with insight into the regional and international developments of the Kurdish issue after presenting prospects and possibilities for the future of Kurds in Turkey. (EG)

Autobiography and Memoirs

My Memoirs: Half a Century of the History of Iraq and the Arab Cause, by Tawfiq al-Suwaydi, trans. by Nancy Roberts. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2013. 570 pages. $55. Tawfiq al-Suwaydi (1892–1968) was a prominent Arab nationalist, an influential liberal reformer, and a distinguished Iraqi politician. Born to one of the most powerful families in Iraq, Suwaydi was a well-respected and highly educated intellectual and political leader of his country over the course of four decades. He served throughout the Iraqi monarchical period (1921–58) as ambassador, foreign minister, and prime minister. Suwaydi’s translated memoirs detail his firsthand contributions to Iraqi independence and the construction of the modern Iraqi state. Robert’s translation revieals Suwaydi’s unique experience witnessing the evolution of the Middle East in the early and mid-20^th century through his interactions with the most powerful Iraqi, regional, and international leaders of the era. (EG)

Education

Palestine in Israeli School Books: Ideology and Propaganda in Education, by Nurit Peled-Elhanan. London: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2012. 280 pages. $29. At the age of 18, most Israeli Jews are drafted into compulsory military service and required to directly engage with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Nurit Peled-Elhanan argues that school books used in the Israeli educational system have an anti-Palestinian ideology and play a large role in...