The news from the Middle East these days is bad. Whatever hopes people may have for the region are being dashed over and over; in country after country. Nicolas Pelham; a veteran correspondent for The Economist; has seen much of the tragedy first hand; but in Holy Lands he presents a strikingly original and startlingly optimistic argument.The Middle East was notably more tolerant than Western Europe during the nineteenth century; because the Ottoman Empire permitted a high degree of religious pluralism and self-determination within its vast borders. European powers broke up the empire and tried to turn it into a collection of secular nation-states; it was a spectacular failure. Rulers turned religion into a force for nationalism and the result has been ever increasing sectarian violence. The solution; Pelham argues; is to accept the Middle East for the deeply religious region it is; and try to revive its tradition of pluralism.Holy Lands is a work of vivid reportage--from Turkey and Iraq; Israel and Palestine; Abu Dhabi and Dubai; Bahrain and Jordan--that is animated by a big idea. It makes a region that is all too familiar from news reports feel fresh.
#2427109 in Books Seabrook Lochlainn 2014-02-04Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.50 x .19 x 5.51l; .24 #File Name: 098586329378 pagesGive This Book to a Yankee A Southern Guide to the Civil War for Northerners
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Cathygreat0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Once again the truth is laid before you!By B. BorenOnce again the truth is laid before you! These times see more and more people mistakenly think that anything to do with the confederacy; or the South during the Civil War is automatically racist and pro slavery. This little book goes a long way to show that such beliefs are totally wrong!The author very clearly outlines each question in simple easy to follow paragraph form; addressing each erroneous; fallacious notion and setting the record straight. The following are just a few of the examples of this.The cause of the war was so that the south could keep their slaves. Actually; the US congress passed a constitutional amendment guaranteeing that slavery would be legal in all of the states; if the seceded states would just come back into the Union. None did; proving that it was not about slavery.The Ku Klux Klan was a racist organization started by Nathan Bedford Forrest to harass; kill torture; and discriminate against the blacks.Actually; the Ku Klux was founded by a group of men as a reaction to corrupt and illegal treatment of the carpetbaggers and not in any way anti black. In fact there was even an all Black chapter of the Klan in Nashville. Forrest did not even join until two years after the founding. Once Reconstruction was over; and there was no need for it anymore; Forrest decreed that the Klan disband; which it did. The racially biased Klan started in the North in the 20th century; and has nothing to do with the Southern Klan.This little book of only 69 pages packs a wallop of information that anyone who has an open mind needs to read. Additionally; it has over four pages of detailed reference notes supporting the assertions found in the book. Another two pages of bibliography makes this diminutive tome a mighty soldier in the war against ignorance.0 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Disliked this snotty authorBy valetteDisliked this snotty author; and found most of his information second hand; so I learned nothing from him except without his family there would have been no one south of the Mason/Dixon line. He did not impress me with all his ramblings about his connections; or his antagonistic attitude. I know where he got most of his "research"; being a devoted Southern researcher myself; but it was an angry book and I tossed which I rarely do with a book. Even as a joke I would not want to spread this book.
