MBR: The Islamic Studies Shelf

The Islamic Studies Shelf

Arab Awakening & Islamic Revival
Martin Kramer
Transaction Books
300 McGraw Drive-Raritan Center, Edison NJ 08837
9781412807678, $29.95 www (dot) transactionpub (dot) com

ARAB AWAKENING AND ISLAMIC REVIVAL: THE POLITICS OF IDEAS IN THE
MIDDLE EAST is a pick for any collection serious about Middle Eastern
politics, history or studies. Arab nationalism has lessened in the
region even as Islamic ideology has spread. This provides a critical,
college-level survey of Arab nationalism, Islamic fundamentalism, and
its implications for Middle East peace and culture. The essays form
the only chronological telling of Arab nationalist trends and is
essential for any complete understanding of the region's special
challenges.

The Mahfouz Dialogs
Gamal al-Ghitani, author
Humphrey Davies, translator
The American University in Cairo Press
c/o International Publishers Marketing
22841 Quicksilver Drive, Dulles, VA 20166
9789774161278, $22.95 www (dot) aucpress (dot) com 1-800-758-3756

The Mahfouz Dialogs collects memories, views, and jokes of Naguib
Mahfouz (1911-2006), winner of the Nobel prize for literature, the
first writer in Arabic to earn a mass audience, and a target of
fundamentalist assassins in his elder years, in part for daring to
voice such beliefs as "No blasphemy harms Islam and Muslims so much as
the call for murdering a writer" in response to the fatwa to murder
author Salman Rushdie. Touching on topics ranging from politics to the
connection between Mahfouz's novels and his life to human
idiosyncracy, The Mahfouz Dialogs is garnered from informal meetings
between Mahfouz and his intimate friends over the course of nearly
half a century. Moderated by novelist Gamal al-Ghitani and skillfully
translated into English by Humphrey Davies, The Mahfouz Dialogs is a
"must-read" for anyone seeking to understand this pioneering and
influential author. Highly recommended.

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