Product Description

From reviews of the first edition:

"[An] extremely interesting and innovative study which, in its own way, successfully challenges the pervasive misperception of the Middle East simply as a conflict-prone region." --Journal of Islamic Studies

". . . provides useful background reading for introductory courses to everyday history of the Middle East." --Journal of Palestine Studies

" . . . presents a grassroots look at what it is like to actually live in the Muslim Middle East . . . from Aghanistan and Iran to Morocco. [It] shows how religion is an important part, but not the sole part, of these people's lives." --Middle East Insight

Newly revised and updated to reflect recent changes in Middle East politics and society, the 35 stories, poems, and essays in this anthology will engage students and scholars of this vast and complex region.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #632567 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Review
"[A] timely, well-researched and written analysis of popular and private life that is too often underestimated or overlooked yet which constitutes the majority of human existence in a region too often viewed from the narrow constraints of the state and its unrepresentative elites." - John Entelis "The broadening of Islamic studies (or regional studies on Islam) to include study of ordinary people, their daily lives, and popular cultures has been long overdue. [An] extremely interesting and innovative study which, in its own way, successfully challenges the pervasive misperception of the Middle East simply as a conflict-prone region." - Journal of Islamic Studies "... provides useful background reading for introductory courses to everyday history of the Middle East." - Journal of Palestine Studies "presents a grassroots look at what it is like to actually live in the Muslim Middle East ... from Aghanistan and Iran to Morocco. [It] shows how religion is an important part, but not the sole part, of these people's lives." - Middle East Insight "This book is a welcome addition to the literature..." - The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences

About the Author
Donna Lee Bowen is Professor of Political Science and Near Eastern Studies at Brigham Young University. She is co-author (with Evelyn A. Early) of Baladi Women of Egypt.

Evelyn A. Early, an anthropologist, has served with USIA in Morocco and Syria. She is currently the Public Affairs Officer in Prague, Czech Republic.