The enterprising scholars at American University Cairo thought it worthwhile to poll M.E. professors [and sundries] on the “most interesting, informative and readable” books in the field of Modern Middle East Studies. 52 scholars of the M.E. responded and below is the top 21. I thought it would be useful for our readers as well. I have hyperlinked the entries to Amazon.
- Orientalism by Edward Said 1978
- The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq by Hanna Batatu, 1978
- Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age by Albert Hourani, 1962
- A History of the Arab Peoples by Albert Hourani, 1991
- The Venture of Islam by Marshall Hodgson, 1975 [3 vols.]
- Colonising Egypt by Timothy Mitchell, 1988
- The Mantle of the Prophet by Roy Mottahedeh, 1986
- Contending Visions of the Middle East by Zachary Lockman, 2004
- Women and Gender in Islam by Leila Ahmed, 1992
- The Emergence of Modern Turkey by Bernard Lewis, 1961
- Over-stating the Arab State: Politics and Society in the Middle East by Nazih Ayubi, 1995
- A Political Economy of the Middle East by Alan Richards & John Waterbury, 1990
- A History of Islamic Societies by Ira Lapidus, 1988
- Rule of Experts by Timothy Mitchell, 2002
- Ambiguities of Domination by Lisa Wedeen, 1999
- The Muqaddimah by Ibn Khaldun, 1377
- A Peace to End All Peace by David Fromkin, 1989
- Armed Struggle and the Search for State by Yezid Sayigh, 1997
- State, Power and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East by Roger Owen, 1992
- Society of the Muslim Brothers by Richard Mitchell, 1969
- Arab Politics: The Search for Legitimacy by Michael Hudson, 1977
I must admit that I am a tad confused by the presence of Lockman and Fromkin entries and the abscence of Olivier Roy’s The Failure of Political Islam or Joseph Schacht’s The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence. My choices didn’t even make the honorable mentions! Shows what I know.
Would the readers like to offer their suggestions?
Posted on Thursday, January 19, 2006 at 11:15 AM
