Beginning in December 2010 popular revolt swept through the Middle East shocking the world & ushering in a period of unprecedented unrest. Protestors took to the streets to demand greater freedom democracy human rights social justice & regime change. What caused these uprisings? What is their significance? & what are their likely consequences? In an engaging question-&-answer format The Arab Uprisings explores all aspects of the revolutionary protests that have rocked the Middle East. Historian James Gelvin begins with an overview--What sparked the Arab uprisings? Where did the demands for democracy & human rights come from? How appropriate is the phrase Arab Spring"?--before turning to specific countries around the region. He looks at such topics as the role of youth labor & religious groups in Tunisia & Egypt & discusses why the military turned against rulers in both countries. Exploring the uprisings in Libya & Yemen Gelvin explains why these two states are considered "weak " why that status is important for understanding the upheavals there & why outside powers intervened in Libya but not in Yemen. Next Gelvin compares two cases that defied expectations: Algeria which experts assumed would experience a major upheaval after Egypt's & Syria which experts failed to foresee. He then looks at the monarchies of Morocco Jordan & the Gulf exploring the commonalities & differences of protest movements in each. The final chapter discusses the implications of the uprisings. What do they mean for the United States? For Iran? Has al-Qaeda been strengthened or weakened? What effects have the uprisings had on the Israel-Palestine conflict? What conclusions might we draw from the uprisings so far? For anyone wishing to understand the dramatic events in the Middle East The Arab Uprisings is the place to turn." ...

When the UN called for the end of the British mandate & the partition of Palestine into two independent states. the RAF found itself under attack from both sides. Tracing the development of hostilities in the Middle East this book covers the period from the establishment of the first proper Israeli Air Force in 1948 to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Israels War of Independence against its Arab neighbours the inevitable round two the Suez Crisis of 1956 the Six Day War of 1967 the Yom Kippur wars of 1973 & the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 are all detailed in this fascinating chronide of war in the Middle East. ...

An enchanting debutante & the eldest daughter of an impoverished country parson Arabella embarks on her first London season. Armed with beauty virtue & a benevolent godmother (as well as a notoriously impetuous temper) she quickly runs afoul of Robert Beaumaris the most eligible Nonpareil of the day. When he accuses her of being yet another pretty female after his wealth Arabella allows herself to be provoked
- into a deceitful charade that might have quite unexpected consequences... Arabelle is a tale of Regency romance from the creator
- & still the best writer
- of this beloved genre.


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A Book of English Food" is an elegant compendium of brilliant recipes adapted from the cookery books of the 1920s & 1930s by Arabella Boxer the Nigella Lawson of her generation whose food writing for Vogue made her the role model for aspiring cooks in the 1960s. " Arabella Boxers Book of English Food" describes the delicious dishes
- & the social conditions in which they were prepared cooked & eaten
- in the short span between the two World Wars when English cooking suddenly blossomed. The food in these wonderful recipes comes from the great country houses where little had changed since Victorian times the large houses in London & the South where fashionable hostesses vied with each other to entertain the most distinguished guests at their tables & less grand establishments like those in Bloomsbury where the painters & writers of the day contrived to lead cultured & civilised lives on little money. Containing 200 recipes drawn from cookery books magazines of the period family sources or from talking to survivors who still remember those days "A Book of English Food" is a fascinating glimpse into another world & a celebration of English cooking at its finest. " That rare thing a cookery book with an argument: viz that English cookery was once both good & independent of the cuisines of her neighbours.. .a rollicking good read". (" Observer"). "I still find the calm elegance of her writing an inspiration". (Nigel Slater). "A treasury of social gossip.. .immensely enjoyable & useful". (" Spectator"). "A captivating exploration & celebration of the flowering of English cooking in the 1920s & 30s". (" Financial Times"). "I recommend it not only for its excellent food but also for the superb introductions & details of social history in the great houses with their shimmering hostesses". (" Evening Standard"). Arabella Boxer was born in 1934 & educated in the UK Paris & Rome. She has written for the " Sunday Times" magazine & the " Telegraph" magazine & was Food Writer for " Vogue" from 1966 to 1968 & 1975 to 1991. She was awarded the Glenfiddich Cookery Writer of the Year Award in 1975 & 1978 a Glenfiddich Special Award in 1992 & won the 1991 Andre Simon Award & the 1992 Michael Smith Macallan Award for fine writing about British food. Arabella Boxer is the author of a number of cookery books including " First Slice Your Cookbook" " Arabella Boxers Garden Cookbook" " Mediterranean Cookbook" " The Sunday Times Complete Cookbook" & "A Visual Feast" (with Tessa Traeger). A founding member of the Guild of Food Writers she lives in London."

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Discover the enchanting Arabesque" by Claudia Roden. Claudia Roden returns to the countries of Turkey Lebanon & Morocco in search of new & old recipes & to find out how cooking has evolved since she first introduced us to these cuisines in the 1960s. The result is a tribute to the different culinary histories & contemporary food of these fascinating countries from the mezze dishes of Turkey & the sweet pastries of Lebanon to the unmistakable flavours & spices of Morocco. In her inimitable style in Arabesque Claudia Roden has created a passionate evocative book full of stories memories & delicious food. Praise for Claudia Roden: " Claudia Roden is no more a simple cookbook writer than Marcel Proust was a biscuit baker. She is rather memorialist historian ethnographer anthropologist essayist poet". (Simon Schama). " Every one of Claudia's books introduced us to a delicious new world' Sam & Sam Clarke ' Roden's great gift is to conjure up not just a cuisine but the culture from which it springs". (Nigella Lawson). " Claudia Roden's writing has the fascination of her conversation. Her books are treasure-houses of information & mines of literary pleasures". (" Observer"). As well as writing cookbooks & presenting cooking shows on the BBC Claudia Roden is also a cultural anthropologist based in the United Kingdom. Born & brought up in Cairo she finished her education in Paris before moving to London to study art. With the publication of her bestselling classic "A Book of Middle Eastern Food in 1968" Claudia Roden revolutionized Western attitudes to the cuisines of the Middle East. Since then she has published nine other books including the award winning classic " The Book of Jewish Food" & has won no fewer than six Glenfiddich awards for her writing. Her other books include "A Book of Middle Eastern Food" " The Food of Italy" " Mediterranean Cookery" & " The Food of Spain"." ...

The Arabian Nights" has become a synonym for the fabulous & the exotic. Every child is familiar with the stories of Aladdin Sinbad the Sailor & Ali Baba. Yet very few people even specialists in oriential literature have a clear idea of when the book was written or what exactly it is. Far from being a batch of stories for children " The Arabian Nights" contains hundreds of narratives of all kinds
- fables epics erotica debates fairy tales political allegories mystical anecdotes & comedies. It is a labyrinth of stories within stories. Widely held in contempt in the Middle East for its frivolity & occasional obscenity the work has nevertheless had a major influence on European & American culture to the extent that the story collection must be considered as a key work in Western literature. A full understanding of the writings of Voltaire Dickens Melville Proust & Borges or indeed of the origins of science fiction is impossible without some familiarity with the stories of the " Nights". This companion aims to guide the reader into this labyrinth of storytelling. It traces the development of the stories from prehistoric India & Pharaonic Egypt to modern times & explores the history of translation & imitation. Above all it uses the stories as a guide to the social history & counter-culture of the medieval Near East & the world of the storyteller the snake charmer the burglar the sorcerer the drug-addict the treasure hunter & the adulterer."
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Lebanese author Wafa' Tarnowska opens a window onto the Arab world with her magnificent new translation of eight stories from A Thousand & One Nights. This edition is notable for combining favourites such as ' Aladdin & the Wonderful Lamp' with less familiar tales such as ' The Diamond Anklet' & ' The Speaking Bird & the Singing Tree'. The collection also features the frame story about Shahriyar & Shahrazade. A classic of world literature newly translated by an Arab author who has divided her adult life between Europe & the Middle East & who has based this retelling on a fourteenth-century Syrian manuscript. Sumptuous illustrations by French illustrator Carole Henaff who has travelled in the Arab world & now lives with her family in Barcelona. ...

Every night for three years the vengeful King Shahriyar sleeps with a different virgin executing her next morning. To end this brutal pattern & to save her own life the vizier's daughter Shahrazad begins to tell the king tales of adventure love riches & wonder
- tales of mystical lands peopled with princes & hunchbacks the Angel of Death & magical spirits tales of the voyages of Sindbad of Ali Baba's outwitting a band of forty thieves & of jinnis trapped in rings & in lamps. The sequence of stories will last 1 001 nights.
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Every night for three years the vengeful King Shahriyar sleeps with a different virgin executing her next morning. To end this brutal pattern & to save her own life the vizier's daughter Shahrazad begins to tell the king tales of adventure love riches & wonder
- tales of mystical lands peopled with princes & hunchbacks the Angel of Death & magical spirits tales of the voyages of Sindbad of Ali Baba's outwitting a band of forty thieves & of jinnis trapped in rings & in lamps. The sequence of stories will last 1 001 nights.
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Wilfred Thesiger was born in Addis Ababa in 1910 & educated at Eton & Oxford. Though British he was repulsed by the softness & rigidity of Western life the machines the calling cards the meticulously aligned streets etc." In the spirit of T.E. Lawrence Thesiger spent five years exploring & wandering the deserts of Arabia. With vivid descriptions & colorful anecdotes he narrates his stories including two crossings of the Empty Quarter among peoples who had never seen a European & considered it their duty to kill Christian infidels." ...