Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf

Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf

Author: Nelida Fuccaro

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2009-09-03

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 0521514355

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book examines the political and social life of the Gulf city and its coastline, as exemplified by Manama in Bahrain. Written as an ethnography of space, politics and community, it addresses the changing relationship between urban development, politics and society before and after the discovery of oil.


Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf

Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf

Author: Nelida Fuccaro

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2009-09-03

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1139479660

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this path-breaking and multi-layered account of one of the least explored societies in the Middle East, Nelida Fuccaro examines the political and social life of the Gulf city and its coastline, as exemplified by Manama in Bahrain. Written as an ethnography of space, politics and community, it addresses the changing relationship between urban development, politics and society before and after the discovery of oil. By using a variety of local sources and oral histories, Fuccaro questions the role played by the British Empire and oil in state-making. Instead, she draws attention to urban residents, elites and institutions as active participants in state and nation building. She also examines how the city has continued to provide a source of political, social and sectarian identity since the early nineteenth century, challenging the view that the advent of oil and modernity represented a radical break in the urban past of the region.


The Persian Gulf in Modern Times

The Persian Gulf in Modern Times

Author: L. Potter

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Published: 2014-12-18

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781349503803

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book explores the historiography, ports, and peoples of the Persian Gulf over the past two centuries, offering a more inclusive history of the region than previously available. Restoring the history of minority communities which until now have been silenced, the book provides a corrective to the 'official story' put forward by modern states.


Gateways to the World

Gateways to the World

Author: Mehran Kamrava

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781849045636

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A scholarly investigation of the lesser and greater port cities of the Persian Gulf, their hinterlands, their wider influence and future prospects


Crusade

Crusade

Author: Rick Atkinson

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 614

ISBN-13: 9780395710838

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Integrating interviews with individuals ranging from senior policymakers to frontline soldiers, a look at the Persian Gulf War shows how the conflict transformed modern warfare.


Persian Gulf States

Persian Gulf States

Author: Library of Congress. Federal Research Division

Publisher: Division

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 512

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Research completed January 1993.


Urban Violence in the Middle East

Urban Violence in the Middle East

Author: Ulrike Freitag

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2015-03-01

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 1782385843

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Covering a period from the late eighteenth century to today, this volume explores the phenomenon of urban violence in order to unveil general developments and historical specificities in a variety of Middle Eastern contexts. By situating incidents in particular processes and conflicts, the case studies seek to counter notions of a violent Middle East in order to foster a new understanding of violence beyond that of a meaningless and destructive social and political act. Contributions explore processes sparked by the transition from empires — Ottoman and Qajar, but also European — to the formation of nation states, and the resulting changes in cityscapes throughout the region.


The Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf

Author: Willem M. Floor

Publisher: Persian Gulf

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781933823393

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A small, sleepy port in the Persian Gulf, Bandar-e Lengeh has had a varied and checkered history since its launch onto the historical scene around 1750. In those days the tribal people of the region felt at home on both sides of the Gulf and often went to wherever they thought would offer them a better life. When the Qavasem Arabs moved to Lengeh and developed it, they turned it from a sleepy fishing town into a pirate's nest. They, together with their kith and kin in Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah, became the scourge of the Gulf until 1819 when the British burnt all three ports to the ground. After this, convinced that piracy was not worth the cost, the people of Lengeh became peaceful, and very successful as traders and pearl fishers. Lengeh became the distribution center for the entire Arabian Coast and rivaled Bahrain as the pearl clearing center of the Gulf. This success attracted people from all over the Gulf to come and live in Lengeh, making it a symbol of the Gulf migratory culture (havaleh). Lengeh's success and prosperity did not end because of competition, but because in 1903 the Iranian government enacted a new customs regime for all their ports-but Lengeh was an "Arabian" port located in Iran. As a result, Lengeh lost its competitive position to Dubai, which opened its doors to many of Lengeh's merchants. Thereafter, Lengeh declined and by 1930 it was once again a minor port and fishing town. The Persian Gulf: The Rise and Fall of Bandar-e Lengeh, The Distribution Center for the Arabian Coast, 1750-1930 is the third volume of the Persian Gulf series by Willem Floor. This book is a rich compendium of Iranian, Dutch, and British reports and primary sources. It is also full of enthralling research into the work of travelers in the region. While it is essential reading for all scholars of the history of the Gulf, it is also informative and satisfying for those readers interested in the history of the region in general. The previous volumes of the series are: The Persian Gulf: A Political and Economic History of 5 Port Cities, 1500-1750, and The Persian Gulf: The Rise of the Gulf Arabs, The Politics of Trade on the Persian Littoral, 1747-1792.


Sectarian Politics in the Gulf

Sectarian Politics in the Gulf

Author: Frederic M. Wehrey

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2013-12-17

Total Pages: 351

ISBN-13: 0231536100

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

One of Foreign Policy's Best Five Books of 2013, chosen by Marc Lynch of The Middle East Channel Beginning with the 2003 invasion of Iraq and concluding with the aftermath of the 2011 Arab uprisings, Frederic M. Wehrey investigates the roots of the Shi'a-Sunni divide now dominating the Persian Gulf's political landscape. Focusing on three Gulf states affected most by sectarian tensions—Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait—Wehrey identifies the factors that have exacerbated or tempered sectarianism, including domestic political institutions, the media, clerical establishments, and the contagion effect of external regional events, such as the Iraq war, the 2006 Lebanon conflict, the Arab uprisings, and Syria's civil war. In addition to his analysis, Wehrey builds a historical narrative of Shi'a activism in the Arab Gulf since 2003, linking regional events to the development of local Shi'a strategies and attitudes toward citizenship, political reform, and transnational identity. He finds that, while the Gulf Shi'a were inspired by their coreligionists in Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon, they ultimately pursued greater rights through a nonsectarian, nationalist approach. He also discovers that sectarianism in the region has largely been the product of the institutional weaknesses of Gulf states, leading to excessive alarm by entrenched Sunni elites and calculated attempts by regimes to discredit Shi'a political actors as proxies for Iran, Iraq, or Lebanese Hizballah. Wehrey conducts interviews with nearly every major Shi'a leader, opinion shaper, and activist in the Gulf Arab states, as well as prominent Sunni voices, and consults diverse Arabic-language sources.


From Cyrus to Alexander

From Cyrus to Alexander

Author: Pierre Briant

Publisher: Penn State Press

Published: 2002-06-23

Total Pages: 1217

ISBN-13: 1575065746

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Around 550 B.C.E. the Persian people—who were previously practically unknown in the annals of history—emerged from their base in southern Iran (Fars) and engaged in a monumental adventure that, under the leadership of Cyrus the Great and his successors, culminated in the creation of an immense Empire that stretched from central Asia to Upper Egypt, from the Indus to the Danube. The Persian (or Achaemenid, named for its reigning dynasty) Empire assimilated an astonishing diversity of lands, peoples, languages, and cultures. This conquest of Near Eastern lands completely altered the history of the world: for the first time, a monolithic State as vast as the future Roman Empire arose, expanded, and matured in the course of more than two centuries (530–330) and endured until the death of Alexander the Great (323), who from a geopolitical perspective was “the last of the Achaemenids.” Even today, the remains of the Empire-the terraces, palaces, reliefs, paintings, and enameled bricks of Pasargadae, Persepolis, and Susa; the impressive royal tombs of Naqsh-i Rustam; the monumental statue of Darius the Great-serve to remind visitors of the power and unprecedented luxury of the Great Kings and their loyal courtiers (the “Faithful Ones”). Though long eclipsed and overshadowed by the towering prestige of the “ancient Orient” and “eternal Greece,” Achaemenid history has emerged into fresh light during the last two decades. Freed from the tattered rags of “Oriental decadence” and “Asiatic stagnation,” research has also benefited from a continually growing number of discoveries that have provided important new evidence-including texts, as well as archaeological, numismatic, and iconographic artifacts. The evidence that this book assembles is voluminous and diverse: the citations of ancient documents and of the archaeological evidence permit the reader to follow the author in his role as a historian who, across space and time, attempts to understand how such an Empire emerged, developed, and faded. Though firmly grounded in the evidence, the author’s discussions do not avoid persistent questions and regularly engages divergent interpretations and alternative hypotheses. This book is without precedent or equivalent, and also offers an exhaustive bibliography and thorough indexes. The French publication of this magisterial work in 1996 was acclaimed in newspapers and literary journals. Now Histoire de l’Empire Perse: De Cyrus a Alexandre is translated in its entirety in a revised edition, with the author himself reviewing the translation, correcting the original edition, and adding new documentation. Pierre Briant, Chaire Histoire et civilisation du monde achémenide et de l’empire d’Alexandre, Collège de France, is a specialist in the history of the Near East during the era of the Persian Empire and the conquests of Alexander. He is the author of numerous books. Peter T. Daniels, the translator, is an independent scholar, editor, and translator who studied at Cornell University and the University of Chicago. He lives and works in New York City.