Help Support H-Net! | Visit New Books Network en Español!

New Books Network
Middle Eastern Studies
Israel Studies February 4, 2023

The History of Galilee, 1538-1949

Mysticism, Modernization, and War

M. M. Silver

Hosted by Ari Barbalat
This study of Galilee in modern times reaches back to the region's Biblical roots and points to future challenges in the Arab-Jewish conflict, Israel's development, and inter-faith relations. M. M. Silver's …

Middle Eastern Studies

Subscribe:

Interviews with scholars of the Middle East about their new books.

General History February 4, 2023

Empire and Catastrophe

Decolonization and Environmental Disaster in North Africa and Mediterranean France since 1954

Spencer D. Segalla

Hosted by Michael Vann
Spencer Segalla’s Empire and Catastrophe: Decolonization and Environmental Disaster in North Africa and Mediterranean France since 1954 (U Nebraska Press, 2021) explores natural and anthropogenic disasters during the years of decolonization …
Art February 3, 2023

Beautiful, Gruesome, and True

Artists at Work in the Face of War

Kaelen Wilson-Goldie

Hosted by Pierre d'Alancaisez
Art has a long history of engaging with conflict and violence. From the antiquities, through Goya, to Guernica, our museums are filled with depictions of battles, pogroms, uprisings, and their …
Jewish Studies February 1, 2023

Jews and the Qur'an

Meir M. Bar-Asher

Hosted by Drora Arussy
In this panoramic and multifaceted book, Meir Bar-Asher examines how Jews and Judaism are depicted in the Qur'an and later Islamic literature, providing needed context to those passages critical of …
Darts & Letters February 1, 2023

Discordia Revisited

The Concordia Netanyahu Riot of 2002

Hosted by Gordon Katic
20 years ago at Concordia University in Montreal pro-Palestinian protestors clashed with police over whether Benjamin Netanyahu should be allowed to speak on campus. Windows were smashed, arrests were made …
Jewish Studies February 1, 2023

The Origins of Judaism

An Archaeological-Historical Reappraisal

Yonatan Adler

Hosted by Ari Barbalat
Throughout much of history, the Jewish way of life has been characterized by strict adherence to the practices and prohibitions legislated by the Torah: dietary laws, ritual purity, circumcision, Sabbath …
Diplomatic History January 31, 2023

Petroleum and Progress in Iran

Oil, Development, and the Cold War

Greg Brew

Hosted by Grant Golub
From the 1940s to 1960s, Iran developed into the world's first “petro-state,” where oil represented the bulk of state revenue and supported an industrializing economy, expanding middle class, and powerful …
Almost Good Catholics January 30, 2023

The Mesopotamian Connection

Comparing the Bible to Other Literature of the Ancient Near East

Cathleen Chopra-McGowan

Hosted by Krzysztof Odyniec
Professor Cathleen Chopra-McGowan examines some the incongruities of our Bible in the context of the Ancient Near East, showing how the stories and traditions of Israel resembled and borrowed from …
World Christianity January 29, 2023

The Politics of Persecution

Middle Eastern Christians in an Age of Empire

Mitri Raheb

Hosted by Byung Ho Choi
Persecution of Christians in the Middle East has been a recurring theme since the middle of the nineteenth century. The topic has experienced a resurgence in the last few years …
Middle Eastern Studies January 29, 2023

Water the Willow Tree

Memoirs of a Bethlehem Boyhood

George Anton Kiraz

Hosted by Ari Barbalat
In Water the Willow Tree: Memoirs of a Bethlehem Boyhood (Gorgias Press, 2022), George A. Kiraz tells the story of a young Palestinian boy growing up in Bethlehem, fascinated with …
Diplomatic History January 28, 2023

The Struggle for Iran

Oil, Autocracy, and the Cold War, 1951-1954

David S. Painter and Gregory Brew

Hosted by Grant Golub
Beginning with the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry in spring 1951 and ending with its reversal following the overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq in August 1953, the Iranian …
Nomads, Past and Present January 27, 2023

Words Like Daggers: The Political Poetry of the Negev Bedouin

Kobi Peled

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
For generations, the composition and recitation of poetry has been a key mode of expression among Bedouin populations in the Middle East, reflecting social norms, religious practices, relationships with the …
Middle Eastern Studies January 23, 2023

Losing Istanbul

Arab-Ottoman Imperialists and the End of Empire

Mostafa Minawi

Hosted by Reuben Silverman
Mostafa Minawi's Losing Istanbul: Arab-Ottoman Imperialists and the End of Empire (Stanford University Press, 2022) offers an intimate history of empire, following the rise and fall of a generation of Arab-Ottoman imperialists living …
International Horizons January 23, 2023

Contextualizing the Iranian Protests

The Role of Women in Leading the Change

Mahnaz Afkhami and Kelly Shannon

Hosted by International Horizons
Western sanctions have slowed Iran's economy, causing protests against the absence of freedom and opportunities -- teachers their lack of pay; farmers their lack of water; retirees their fear of …
Popular Culture January 18, 2023

Fish, Milk, Tamarind

A Book of Egyptian Arabic Food Expressions

Dalal Abo El Seoud

Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan
In Fish, Milk, Tamarind: A Book of Egyptian Arabic Food Expressions (American University in Cairo Press, 2022), Dalal Abo El Seoud presents 100 commonly used Egyptian food expressions. Can you guess what Egyptians mean …
Anthropology January 16, 2023

Voices That Matter

Kurdish Women at the Limits of Representation in Contemporary Turkey

Marlene Schäfers

Hosted by Armanc Yildiz
“Raise your voice!” and “Speak up!” are familiar refrains that assume, all too easily, that gaining voice will lead to empowerment, healing, and inclusion for marginalized subjects. Marlene Schäfers’s Voices …
Jewish Studies January 15, 2023

Escape from Benghazi

Diary of an Imposter

Elia Meghnagi

Hosted by Ari Barbalat
Elia Meghnagi last saw his childhood home in Benghazi when he was only seventeen. A member of the endangered and fast-shrinking millennia-old Jewish community of Libya, in 1958 Elia was …
American Studies January 13, 2023

America's Arab Nationalists

From the Ottoman Revolution to the Rise of Hitler

Aaron Berman

Hosted by Roberto Mazza
Aaron Berman's book America's Arab Nationalists: From the Ottoman Revolution to the Rise of Hitler (Routledge, 2022) focuses in on the relationship between Arab nationalists and Americans in the struggle for …
Jewish Studies January 12, 2023

The Religious Poetry of El'azar Ben Ya'aqov Ha-Bavli (Baghdad, 13th C.)

Wout J. van Bekkum

Hosted by Ari Barbalat
Wout J. van Bekkum's The Religious Poetry of El'azar Ben Ya'aqov Ha-Bavli (Baghdad, 13th C.) (Brill, 2022) is a comprehensive edition of Hebrew hymns composed by Eleazar the Babylonian, a prolific …
Nomads, Past and Present January 8, 2023

Roma in the Medieval Islamic World

An interview with Kristina Richardson

Kristina Richardson

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
Medieval Arabic sources are full of references to the Banu Sasan (Sons of Sasan) and the Ghuraba' (Strangers), an enigmatic but captivating group who begged, told fortunes, trained animals, and …