The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam will Shape the Future
Vali Nasr
W W Norton & Company (paperback), 2007
PRs 3,720
Reviews
Iranian-born scholar Vali Nasr has become one of America’s leading commentators on current events in the Middle East, admired and welcomed by both media and government for his “concise and coherent” analysis. - (Wall Street Journal, front-page profile)
In this “remarkable work” (Anderson Cooper), Nasr brilliantly dissects the political and theological antagonisms within Islam, providing a unique and objective understanding of the 1,400-year bitter struggle between Shias and Sunnis and shedding crucial light on its modern-day consequences.
About the Author
Vali Nasr is Dean and Professor of International Relations at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, a non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a Contributor to Bloomberg View. He is a member of the State Department’s Foreign Affairs Policy Advisory Board to advise the Secretary of State on global issues.
Between 2009 and 2011 he served as Senior Advisor to U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke.
Vali Nasr is one of America’s leading experts on the Islamic world and Middle East politics. He is internationally renowned and has influenced critical public debates and policy decisions in both U.S. and Europe. He is the author of the groundbreaking book The Dispensable Nation (2013), which takes a hard look at strategic risk of a shrinking American role on the global stage. His two previous books, the New York Times best seller Shia Revival (2006), and Forces of Fortune (2009) correctly foretold of sectarian conflict following Iraq war and the potential for an Arab Spring. He has advised presidents and senior policy makers, members of the Congress, presidential campaigns, and global political and business leaders. He was featured on the front page of Wall Street Journal; quoted by Senator John Kerry on the floor of the U.S. Senate; and described as a “national resource” by Richard Haass, the President of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Women and the Fatimids in the World of Islam
Delia Cortese
Edinburgh University Press (hardcover), 2006
PRs 9,045
This first full-length study of women and the Fatimids is a groundbreaking work investigating an unexplored area in the field of Islamic and medieval studies.
The authors have unearthed a wealth of references to women, thus re-inscribing their role in the history of one of the most fascinating Islamic dynasties, the only one to be named after a woman. At last some light is thrown on the erstwhile silent and shadowy figures of women under the Fatimids which gives them a presence in the history of women in medieval and pre-modern dynasties.
Basing their research on a variety of sources from historical works to chronicles, official correspondence, documentary sources and archaeological findings, the authors have provided a richly informative analysis of the status and influence of women in this period. Their contribution is explored first within the context of Isma’ili and Fatimid genealogical history, and then within the courts in their roles as mothers, courtesans, wives and daughters, and as workers and servants. Throughout the book comparison is drawn with the status and roles of women in earlier, contemporary and subsequent Islamic as well as non-Islamic courts.
Reviews
[An] excellent addition to the scholarship of both medieval Islamic history and gender history... Highly recommended. - (Choice)
This book reflects a major contribution to the field of Ismaili studies, dealing with a hitherto neglected area… [the authors] write in a highly accessible style without compromising academic standards. - (Dr Farhad Daftary, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London)
Anthropology of Socio Linguistics
Rederick Trinder
Routledge (hardcover), 2015
PRs 15,600
Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and the effects of language use on society. It is historically closely related to linguistic anthropology and the distinction between the two fields has even been questioned recently. Anthropology is a field of research in which language and culture are considered to be inextricably intertwined. The book is designed to help the students and professionals to quickly acquire the knowledge and skills they need for this subject.
Review
“Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and the effects of language use on society. It is historically closely related to linguistic anthropology and the distinction between the two fields has even been questioned recently. Anthropology is a field of research in which language and culture are considered to be inextricably intertwined. The book is designed to help the students and professionals to quickly acquire the knowledge and skills they need for this subject. “
Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations: A Story of Economic Discovery
David Warsh
W W Norton & Company (hardcover), 2006
PRs 3,475
A stimulating and inviting tour of modern economics centered on the story of one of its most important breakthroughs. In 1980, the twenty-four-year-old graduate student Paul Romer tackled one of the oldest puzzles in economics. Eight years later he solved it. This book tells the story of what has come to be called the new growth theory: the paradox identified by Adam Smith more than two hundred years earlier, its disappearance and occasional resurfacing in the nineteenth century, the development of new technical tools in the twentieth century, and finally the student who could see further than his teachers.
Fascinating in its own right, new growth theory helps to explain dominant first-mover firms like IBM or Microsoft, underscores the value of intellectual property, and provides essential advice to those concerned with the expansion of the economy. Like James Gleick’s Chaos or Brian Greene’s The Elegant Universe, this revealing book takes us to the frontlines of scientific research; not since Robert Heilbroner’s classic work The Worldly Philosophers have we had as attractive a glimpse of the essential science of economics.
The Ethics of War in Asian Civilizations: Comparative Perspective
Torkel Brekke
Routledge (hardcover), 2007
PRs 13,980
This book explores how issues of ethics in war and warfare have been treated by major ethical traditions of Asia. It opens a discussion about whether there are universal standards in the ideologies of warfare between the major religious traditions of the world.
While the chapters are written by specialists in Asian cultures, some of the conceptual apparatus is drawn from the scholarly discourse on just war, developed in the study of the ethical tradition of Christianity. Taking a comparative approach, the book looks at six different Asian religious, philosophical and political traditions: Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, China and Japan; and is organized according to geography. This innovative approach opens a new field of research on war and ideology, and extends the debate on modern warfare, universalism and human rights.