Selected articles
“Britain & the Islamic World, 1558-1713”, Gerald Maclean and Nabil Mattar
the two authors keep throwing open the windows to offer us fresh insights, new horizons of inquiry, as well as skipping out through a back door to give us a witheringly close examination of the fabric.
“The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean” by David Abulafia
Abulafia rises above narrow nationalism to exhibit an Olympian detachment over his vast and varied historical landscape.
“Can Intervention work?” by Rory Stewart and Gerald Knaus
Rory Stewart reminds us that in a recent recruitment drive, 92 out of 100 Afghan police recruits could not write their names or record numbers.
“An Evil Eye, the 4th in the Yashim, Ottoman Detective series” by Jason Goodwin
… although the reader is utterly caught up in the devilish intricacies of the multi-layered plot, you are left with a complex picture of Istanbul and its deeply grained history.
“The Story of the Damascus Drum” by Christopher Ryan
...there is also enough bawdy laughter and midsummer humanism to enchant a wider audience and perhaps also get them drumming.
“In the Shadow of the Sword” by Tom Holland
...running like a stream of molten lava beneath the narrative of Holland’s history is an even more intriguing story.
“Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure”, by Artemis Cooper
And since my reading of Artemis Cooper’s page-turning biography, Leigh Fermor has acquired yet another fan.
“Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan”, by William Dalrymple
He shows us that although the British occupation of Afghanistan was a doomed long-term strategy, there was nothing inevitable about a military defeat.
“And Man Created God: Kings, Cults and Conquests at the Time of Jesus”, by Selina O’Grady
Selina O’Grady is also a first rate story-teller with a finely tuned ear for character and an impressive eye for atmosphere and the telling detail
“In the Name of God: A History of Christian and Muslim Intolerance” by Selina O’Grady
So when we hear how the Huguenots of France, or the Jews and Moors of Andalucia are to be protected and tolerated by a generous peace settlement, we need to set the alarm clock for the inevitable persecution that is to come.
Book review: “Brazil” by Michael Palin
The resulting mosaic of opinions draws out a fascinating composite picture of a nation that through the three cultural markers of language, music and food is triumphantly self-defined and ceaselessly inventive.
Book review: “Meander: East to West along a Turkish River" by Jeremy Seal
At its simplest level, it is a burlesque adventure, where a well-meaning amateur English adventurer blunders his way through a totally impractical project
“The Train in Spain; Ten Great Journeys through the Interior” by Christopher Howse
Howse’s real connections are all with carved stone and the printed word, especially with the lovers of Gothic architecture
“God's Zoo; Artists, Exiles, Londoners” by Marius Kociejowsk
Each of the fifteen chapters has been condensed into one elegant, superbly long, eccentrically diverse and learned conversation.
“Loyal Enemies; British Converts to Islam, 1850-1950” by Jamie Gilham
The late 19th-century had some advantages for a homegrown Muslim missionary of talent, for the tiresome quarrels between rival sectarian churches had alienated many Christian believers.
Book review: “On the Wilder Shores of Love” by Lesley Blanch
The resulting memoir, only now published ten years after her death, is a work of loving devotion and a true reflection of Lesley Blanch in her own words.
Book review: “The Rise Of Islamic State: Isis And The New Sunni Revolution” by Patrick Cockburn
the invasion of Iraq in 2003 by the USA and its dependent allies is not only a crime, but one that was spectacularly ill-advised.
“The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East, 1914-1920” by Eugene Rogan
A chronological tale of the First World War might be wearyingly familiar, but by telling it from the perspective of the Ottoman Empire, Eugene Rogan grabs the reader’s attention – as if we are hearing the Iliad from the Trojan battlements.
Book review: “Aleppo: The Rise and Fall of Syria’s Great Merchant City” by Philip Mansel
In the background to this enduring triangular relationship a shifting chain of alliances bound the city of Aleppo to tribes of Bedouin (horse-breeding) Arabs to the east, Kurdish clans in the hills to the north and Alawi highlanders to the west.
Book review: “The Naked Shore: of the North Sea” by Tom Blass
National myths are also slowly washed away. The Romans were less invincible on the water than they liked to boast and even the Vikings are put back into their historical box.