Yasin T. al-Jibouri has been writing; translating and publishing Islamic literature since January of 1974 when he started in Atlanta; Georgia; the publication of Islamic Affairs bimonthly newsletter. So far; he has written; edited and translated a total of 68 titles; and you can get their list in PDF format if you send an email requesting it to: “Yasin Publications†at this address: info@yasinpublications.org. Al-Jibouri is well known for his two-volume book Allah: The Concept of God in Islam and for his translations; particularly of Al-Muraja`at: A Shi`i-Sunni Dialogue and recently his three-volume translation of Nahjul-Balagha: The Path of Eloquence. These three volumes have been published in the United States; United Kingdom and Iraq. The Iraqi edition is in full color and both recently published editions in the U.S. and U.K. are also in full color. Authorhouse (www.authorhouse.com) has published some of his works; while Amazon (www.amazon.com) is marketing them globally. He presently has a list of other translations of his; which he intends to publish in the U.K. and U.S. These books are badly needed by the Islamic library; which lacks quality literature on the histories and biographies of Ahlul-Bayt; immediate family of the Prophet of Islam; with whom the vast majority of the Muslims are unfamiliar; let alone others.
#1364931 in Books 2016-08-16Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.30 x .88 x 6.11l; .0 #File Name: 1501703099248 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Creating a modern army required the end of the privileged samurai class. A somewhat obscure topic but fascinating.By lyndonbrechtOn the face of it; this book will have appeal to readers interested in the transition from traditional to modern Japan; specifically from the shogunate to Meiji Japan. It actually offers more than that. The history of Japan from say 1850 to 1900 is not particularly well known to Americans; except for the "Opening of Japan" by an American fleet.This book describes how Japan responded to challenges from European colonialism. A few confrontations and the observation of the failures of Qing China motivated advocates of change. This era is complicated; but essentially the Japan of hundreds of domains and the shogunate itself cracked and collapsed. Authorities in a couple of progressive domains (think of Germany consisting of many small states before unification); notably Choshu; challenged the failing Tokugawa government; with power attained by appealing to tradition--defining the Shoguns as military usurpers and the revolt as restoring the Emperor--so; the origin in Meiji in 1868. The Tokugawas tried some modernizing but were not successful..The development of Meiji Japan was actually rather fast; but complicated. The old military aristocracy; the samurai class; military groups attached to the domains and so on; were part of the lingering old structure that had to be altered. Creation of a national army on the basis of conscription meant the demise of the old military privileges--these included the right to a surname; the right to carry swords in public and a few other rights; and losing this status was widely resented. A serious challenge occurred in 1877; the Satsuma rebellion. This history has recently been the inspiration for some film and books; on the romantic interpretation of the last samurai fighting a modernizing government. This book say the truth is that both sides used modern weapons; with little swordplay. The new government won; after some hard fighting; suffering some 6;000 soldiers killed. It was actually a kind of civil war.There's more detail; including how the government attempted (and finally largely succeeded) in inculcating patriotic sentiment in the recruits. It took some time for the idea of national service to take root; with some resistance to the draft early on. Recruits had to be at least 5' tall; among other things; which says worlds about traditional Japan's peasants; for many of the solders; the food was better than they had ever had.The book ends in 1894; when Japan fought a war; and won it; against heavily favored China (which had itself modernized its military somewhat). The book is concerned with the army; not the development of Japanese naval forces or the concurrent development of industry and creation of a modern economy--complex and difficult but ultimate successful. Japan became a potent regional power with its defeat of the Russians in 1905.One fascinating detail I have read nowhere else is the status of musketry in Japan. There is a common belief Japan gave up guns in the 1600s; bt that is not quite true. The Japanese had access to information about European developments through the Dutch (they were allowed a small presence in Japan throughout the Tokugawa era). Musketry was considered a kind of martial art.
