Middle World

Empires rose and fell along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, while a civilization as yet unsurpassed emerged. Discover myths, history and more from not only the earliest but also the greatest civilization in human history.

The Alkasem brothers, Riyad and Bashar, spend their childhood in Raqqa, the city that would later became the capital of ISIS. As a teenager in the 1980s, Riyad witnesses the devastating aftermath of the Hama massacre—an atrocity by the Assad regime. Wanting to expand his notion of government and justice, Riyad moves to the US to study law, but his plans are derailed and he eventually falls in love with a Southern belle. Bashar, meanwhile, stayed in Syria and embarked on a brilliant legal career under the same corrupt Assad government that Riyad despised.

There were talented and dexterous people living in what is now Southern Iraq during the time of Sumer. Humankind's first known civilization arose in the fertile plain irrigated by the Euphrates and Tigris rivers some 6,000 years ago "suddenly", "unexpectedly", and "with stunning abruptness", according to researchers. It was a society to which we owe virtually every "first" of what we consider essential to an advanced society.

Based on three case studies from the Middle East, The Land beyond the Border advances an innovative theoretical framework for the study of state expansions and state contractions.

Baer goes behind the scenes to show how the U.S. willingly overlooked the corruption of the Saudi royal family, its financing of violent Islamic fundamentalist groups that spread hatred of the West throughout Saudi society, and its bribery of American officials. From a close-up with a corrupt Arab family to the inside scoop on how we helped fund the Taliban, Baer shows what's at stake in our pursuit of oil.

"عزف منفرد" مجموعة من المقالات يتحدث فيها يوسف إدريس بضمير الـ "أنا" ، وتأتي على سبيل التعليق على أحداث أدبية وشخصية وعامة وسياسية والبعض منها يبدو وكأنه جولة من الذكريات.

شهد عصر يوسف إدريس الكثير من التحولات التي غيّرت المجتمع المصري والدولي إلى حدٍّ بعيد وإزاء كلّ هذا كان الأديب الكبير يكتب ويرصد ويحلّل...

لمدينة "مكة" عدة وجوه؛ وجه مؤمن متدين سماوي، ووجه تجاري بحكم موقعها المميز، ووجه مكة الثقافي بشعرائها وكتّابها وندواتهم... ثم هناك الوجه السرّي، الوجه العاشق !!

"فمعظم من أتذكرهم كان يعد الآخر عشبة ضارة في فردوسه...يلقي عليه باللوم لأنه عكّر صفو أيامه، ولولا حضوره الباهت لكانت حياته فردوسا دائما متجددًا..."

فتاةٌ عفوية وشابٌ يحبُّ الحياة يجمعهما شاطيْ غزّة وأشعار محمود درويش لينمو الحب بين قلبيهما رشيقًا وحنونًا مغلفًا بأغاني فيروز وبالكثير من الورد وكلمات الحبِّ المنمَّقة، لكن في قوانين المدينة التي أنهكتها الحرب فإنَّ الحبَّ من المحرمات وهو خطيئةٌ كبرى تُعاقبُ عليها الفتاة بتزويجها رجلًا برائحة حظيرة يتهمها بشرفها، ويُحاول قتلها بينما يُغادر حبيبها البلاد بحثًا عن وطنٍ ينساها فيه ويدفن تفاصيل ذكرياتهما للأبد.

إن فكرة الكتابة عمن تحب فكرة قديمة بل وأصيلة في التاريخ الإنساني..فالحب مهما كان سيجعلك فالحب في حالة ليس لها تفسير....

Naila’s conservative immigrant parents have always said the same thing: She may choose what to study, how to wear her hair, and what to be when she grows up - but they will choose her husband. Following their cultural tradition, they will plan an arranged marriage for her. And until then, dating - even friendship with a boy - is forbidden. When Naila breaks their rule by falling in love with Saif, her parents are livid.

Leila Slimani was in her native Morocco promoting her novel Adèle, about a woman addicted to sex, when she began meeting women who confided the dark secrets of their sexual lives. In Morocco, adultery, abortion, homosexuality, prostitution, and sex outside of marriage are all punishable by law, and women have only two choices: They can be wives or virgins. Sex and Lies combines vivid, often harrowing testimonies with Slimani's passionate and intelligent commentary to make a galvanizing case for a sexual revolution in the Arab world.

"His Excellency" is a novel by the world-famous Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz. It tells the story of the struggle of "Othman Bayoumi" who joined as a small employee in the archives department in one of the state departments. He obtained a baccalaureate degree, relying on himself after the death of his hard-working parents.

Two years ago, Graham Robb moved to a lonely house on the very edge of England, near the banks of a river that once marked the southern boundary of the legendary Debatable Land. The oldest detectable territorial division in Great Britain, the Debatable Land served as a buffer between Scotland and England. It was once the bloodiest region in the country, fought over by Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, and James V. After most of its population was slaughtered or deported, it became the last part of Great Britain to be brought under the control of the state.

Egyptian-born and London-raised, Alya Mooro grew up between two cultures and felt a pull from both. Where could she turn for advice and inspiration when it seemed there was nobody else like her? Today, Mooro is determined to explore and explode the myth that she must identify either as ‘Western’ or as one of almost 400 million other ‘Arabs’ across the Middle East.

Malala Yousafzai was a girl who loved to learn but was told that girls would no longer be allowed to go to school. She wrote a blog that called attention to what was happening in her beautiful corner of Pakistan and realized that words can bring about change. She has continued to speak out for the right of all children to have an education. In 2014, she won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Many of us are becoming aware of a growing global problem with national economies and terrorism, but some believe we are being led down this path by powerful people determined to destroy our free society in favor of their own greed. So, is this conspiracy nonsense?

It is the year 1915, and the British and Ottoman Empires clash in a deadly struggle in the Middle East. Tasked with keeping the Ottomans out of Suez Canal, Major Andrew Selkirk discovers that his real assignment is to retrieve a Bengali spy working for those who vow to see British rule out of India. After landing on the west coast of Palestine, Selkirk discovers the Ottomans have taken the spy captive. Even more troubling are the plans by Ottomans and Germans to draw Afghanistan and Persia into the war against Great Britain.

Using science fiction, allegory, and magical realism to challenge the perception of what it means to be "the other", this groundbreaking anthology contains stories that are heartbreakingly surreal and yet utterly recognizable to the human experience. Though born out of exhaustion, fear, and despair, Iraq + 100 is also fueled by themes of love, family, and endurance and woven through with a delicate thread of hope for the future.