Your Search Results(showing 10697)

    • Trusted Partner
      Fiction
      January 2016

      The Autumn of Innocence

      by Abbas Beydoun

      In his novel, The Autumn of Innocence, prominent Lebanese poet and novelist Abbas Beydoun artfully weaves a tragic story of a father-son relationship that ends disastrously with the son's violent death. This story unfolds along with the Arab Spring movement and explores the motivations behind religious extremism and questions cultural constructs of masculinity. The novel opens with a letter from Ghassan to his cousin, describing how his father Massoud strangled his mother to death when Ghassan was just three years old. Afterward, Massoud flees the village in southern Lebanon. For 18 years, no one hears from him, and Ghassan grows up stigmatized by his father's violent crime. In time, Ghassan's aunt Bushra-Massoud's sister-makes a confession: She encouraged Massoud to kill his wife, believing that his wife's low socioeconomic status would bring embarrassment to their wealthy family. Bushra also reveals that Massoud was driven to kill his wife because he feared that she would tell someone that he was impotent, undermining his sense of manhood and social status. Meanwhile, Massoud has moved to southern Syria, where he remarried and had two more sons. During the Arab Spring, the militant groups fighting the Syrian regime transform him into a religious extremist. In the second half of the novel, Massoud return to the village in southern Lebanon. He brings with him a group of men. Together they seize control of the village and terrorize its inhabitants. After killing the dogs, they begin murdering the villagers in the name of religion. One of Ghassan's friends is among the victims, and Massoud also threatens his family. Ghassan decides that he must kill his father, avenging the death of his friend and the deaths of the other villagers. In the end, he fails and is beheaded by Bushra's son, his cousin, who is has joined Massoud's thugs. Beydoun captures the shifting points of view in a family shattered by the tyranny of normative masculinity and the resulting violence. The victims are women, of course, but also the men like Ghassan who reject these social and cultural expectations. The novel also portrays the rise of religious extremism and the terrorism it can inspire, which wreaks havoc on the lives of ordinary people. Beydoun's engaging language imbues the characters and the places they inhabit with a vibrancy and vitality that transcends the difficult subject matter.

    • Trusted Partner
      Fiction
      2022

      Rejoice, My Heart

      by Alawiya Sobh

      Ghassan, a musician and Oud player, leaves for New York, fleeing the Lebanese civil war after his extremist bother, Afif, murdered his older and pacifist brother Jamal, who sought to open the door to Muslim-Christian dialogue. In New York, Ghassan struggles to erase all his memories but his thoughts would always bring him back to his hometown, Dar El Ezz, as it was long before the war. ///Soon, he falls in love with and marries Kristin, becomes more emotionally stable, and embraces American culture. But when he must return to Lebanon for his father’s funeral, nostalgia for his homeland and a series of events force Ghassan to face a convergence of two cultures. ///“Efrah Ya Qalbi” (Rejoice, My Heart!) is a novel about love, music, identity, one’s sense of belonging, brotherly conflicts, and the diaspora. It dives into the lives, troubles, and dilemmas of the characters. ///The stories intertwine amid a fascinating narrative, thus revealing the turmoil and troubles of the Lebanese community torn by wars and outbursts. The novel also addresses the relationship between the East and the West, where struggling and cracked identities are silenced and offers a new vision through analysis and narration.

    • Trusted Partner
      Business, Economics & Law
      June 2019

      China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation:

      Case Studies and Plans

      by Secretariat of the First China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo Organizing Committee

      China-Africa Economics and Trade Cooperation: Case Studies and Plans comes in 3 languages: Chinese(2 volumes), English(2 volumes), and French(2 volumes). This book series include 101 excellent case studies , which related to 21 Chinese provinces and cities and 31 countries in Africa, containing agriculture, manufacturing, commerce and trade, infrastructure, industrial parks, energy and mining, financing and other fields in China-Africa economic and trade cooperation. This set of books is practical and useful for all readers. In addition, the book gives the vivid interpretation on the concept of common prosperity, win-win cooperation, mutual negotiation and construction, shared innovation and progression of Belt and Road Initiative.

    • Trusted Partner
      The Arts
      January 2022

      Book of Beirut

      The voice and art of kids from Beirut

      by Roula Youssef

      The “Book of Beirut” was born, following the devastating explosion of 4 August 2020 at Beirut Port, to be a remedy to the intangible wounds of the children’s inner self, the traumatized children who lived through the ravages of the third-largest explosion in the world. It is a journey of healing through art. A collection of 128 paintings showing the amount of creativity, imagination and love these little warriors offered us over four artistic sessions, with the guidance of a team of experts. Watching them pour their fears and dreams for a better future onto an empty canvas made me want to give them a voice to share their stories. The “Book of Beirut” is a glimpse into the purity of childhood and its ability to heal the world – when empowered.

    • Trusted Partner
      Humanities & Social Sciences
      January 2025

      ‘Ten Pound Poms’

      A life history of British postwar emigration to Australia

      by A. James Hammerton, Alistair Thomson, Becca Parkinson

      A riveting history of the 'Ten Pound Poms', a wave of British citizens who migrated to Australia and New Zealand after the Second World War. Between the 1940s and 1970s, more than a million Britons migrated to Australia. They were the famous 'Ten Pound Poms' and this is their story. The authors draw on a vast trove of letters, diaries and personal photographs, as well as hundreds of interviews with former migrants, to offer original insights into key historical themes. They explore people's motivations for emigrating, gender relations and family dynamics, the clashing experience of the 'very familiar and awfully strange', homesickness and the personal and national identities of both settlers and returnees. Filled with fascinating testimonies that shed light on migrant life histories, 'Ten Pound Poms' will engage readers interested in British and Australian migration history and intrigued about the power of migrant memories for individuals, families and nations.

    • Trusted Partner
      Children's & YA
      January 2011

      The Boy Who Saw the Color of Air

      by Abdo Wazen

      In his first YA novel, cultural journalist and author Abdo Wazen writes about a blind teenager in Lebanon who finds strength and friendship among an unlikely group. Growing up in a small Lebanese village, Bassim’s blindness limits his engagement with the materials taught in his schools. Despite his family’s love and support, his opportunities seem limited. So at thirteen years old, Bassim leaves his village to join the Institute for the Blind in a Beirut suburb. There, he comes alive. He learns Braille and discovers talents he didn’t know he had. Bassim is empowered by his newfound abilities to read and write. Thanks to his newly developed self-confidence, Bassim decides to take a risk and submit a short story to a competition sponsored by the Ministry of Education. After winning the competition, he is hired to work at the Institute for the Blind. At the Institute, Bassim, a Sunni Muslim, forms a strong friendship with George, a Christian. Cooperation and collective support are central to the success of each student at the Institute, a principle that overcomes religious differences. In the book, the Institute comes to symbolize the positive changes that tolerance can bring to the country and society at large. The Boy Who Saw the Color of Air is also a book about Lebanon and its treatment of people with disabilities. It offers insight into the vital role of strong family support in individual success, the internal functioning of institutions like the Institute, as well as the unique religious and cultural environment of Beirut. Wazen’s lucid language and the linear structure he employs result in a coherent and easy-to-read narrative. The Boy Who Saw the Color of Air is an important contribution to a literature in which people with disabilities are underrepresented. In addition to offering a story of empowerment and friendship, this book also aims to educate readers about people with disabilities and shed light on the indispensable roles played by institutions like the Institute.

    • Trusted Partner
      October 2014

      The education system in colonial Algeria (1833-1962)

      Statistical and historiographical review

      by Kamel Kateb

      ‘‘The means of dominating a people and assimilating it is to take possession of childhood and youth: this cannot be done by coercion, but the moral means are numerous and effective... The object of our efforts must be the extension of Arabic-French teaching: it is through this that we will take possession of the new generations almost from the cradle.’’ (Leroy-Beaulieu, 1887). (Leroy-Beaulieu, 1887). What is the record of French education in Algeria during the period of colonisation? After 132 years of French presence in Algeria (annexed to France in 1838), how many Algerians (French Muslims, indigenous French subjects) had a sufficient knowledge of the French language, and how many of them had learned to read and write in French? Was compulsory schooling for children aged 6 to 13, in accordance with the J. Ferry law of 1882, applied in Algeria? How many Algerian children attended state schools? How many went to lycée and university? What was the number of students at the time of the country's independence? How many doctors, engineers, primary and secondary school teachers did Algeria have at the time of its independence? What was the status of local languages (Arabic, dialectal Arabic, Berber) in the Algerian education system? As well as answering the questions listed above, this book attempts to analyse the objectives assigned to French schools in Algeria and to study the attitudes of the various populations to the objectives pursued. What role did education play in the various forms of colonial ‘confrontation’? What was the role of the elites produced by the colonial education system? And what role and place did they occupy in the struggle for Algerian independence? Were they the driving force behind the independence movement, as the Europeans in Algeria feared? Or did they mediate between colonisation and the mass of the colonised, as the enlightened ideologists of the colonial system hoped?

    • Trusted Partner
      General & world history
      May 2005

      ‘Ten Pound Poms’

      A life history of British postwar emigration to Australia

      by A. James Hammerton, Alistair Thomson

      More than a million Britons emigrated to Australia between the 1940s and 1970s. They were the famous 'ten pound Poms' and this is their story. Illuminated by the fascinating testimony of migrant life histories, this is the first substantial history of their experience and fills a gaping hole in the literature of emigration. The authors, both leading figures in the fields of oral history and migration studies, draw upon a rich life history archive of letters, diaries, personal photographs and hundreds of oral history interviews with former migrants, including those who settled in Australia and those who returned to Britain. They offer original interpretations of key historical themes, including: motivations for emigration; gender relations and the family dynamics of migration; the 'very familiar and awfully strange' confrontation with the new world; the anguish of homesickness and return; and the personal and national identities of both settlers and returnees, fifty years on. Accessible and appealing, this book will engage readers interested in British and Australian migration history and intrigued about the significance of migrant memories for individuals, families and nations.

    • Trusted Partner
      Humanities & Social Sciences
      July 2024

      Coup in Damascus

      Husni al-Za'im and the birth of Syrian military rule

      by Carl Rihan

      Coup in Damascus is a history of Syria's first military regime. It plots the the fall of Syria's democracy and the rise of its military rulers, particularly Husni al-Zaim, whose brief rule in 1949 represented a profoundly transformative moment for the Syrian nation. It is a history of the thoughts, intentions and motives of political actors underpinning the events that have marked Syria's history after the first Arab-Israeli war, and focuses mainly on the interaction between local, regional and international actors. Unlike most histories of the modern Middle East that tackle broad intervals and that focus on the sequences of events, this history seeks to reconstruct the thought processes behind the events, and anchor them within the epoch's existing political and socioeconomic conditions. It draws on several methodological influences, particularly R.G. Collingwood's 'history as re-enactment of the past'.

    • Trusted Partner
      Humanities & Social Sciences
      July 2025

      International Relations in a multipolar Middle East

      by Francesco Belcastro, Edward Wastnidge

      This volume explores the international relations of today's Middle East, a region that has become increasingly multi-polar. The tumult following the Arab Uprisings has expanded the arenas competed over by regional powers, global actors and non-state players. The United States, once seemingly intent on a hegemonic 'Pax Americana' has stepped back, leaving powers such as Russia, China, India and the EU, with opportunities to increase their reach and expand their influence. Meanwhile, regional rivalries and alliances have continued to shape conflict and cooperation in the Middle East. As global politics moves towards a new, multipolar era, this volume sheds important light on how this transition will impact on the region. Comprised of two macro sections that offer theoretical reflections and empirical case studies, this volume is essential reading for scholars of the politics and international relations of the Middle East.

    • Trusted Partner
      Crime & mystery
      2017

      Echo of Someone Else’s War

      by Juan Miramar

      The works of Juan Miramar presented in this book, as always, are distinguished by refined language, subtle humor and a peculiar philosophical view of life, as well as a bright oriental flavor. The story "Echo of Someone Else’s War" impresses with its fascinating dynamic plot. A scientist and writer, a former translator of international peacekeeping forces, suddenly finds himself in the thick of events of a modern secret war. The distant past extends its tentacles into the present, not only forcing the main character to remember his military experience, but also prompting him to choose a side in Arab and non-Arab conflicts that are foreign to him.

    • Trusted Partner
      Humanities & Social Sciences
      April 2022

      Rebel populism

      by Philip Proudfoot

    • Trusted Partner
    • Trusted Partner
      February 2023

      Love for Northeast China

      by Laoteng, whose real name is Teng Zhenfu, is a member of the Tenth Presidium of the China Writers Association and is currently the Party Secretary and Chairman of the Liaoning Writers Association. He has published ten novels, includingThe Northeast China, The Numerous Armed Conflicts,and The Forests of Beizhang;eight collections of novels, such as The Black Thrush and A City Without Crows; and three cultural essays, such as Confucian Notes. He has won the 15th and 16th Five-One Project Awards,respectively, and The Northeast China has been selected on the list of 2021 Chinese Good Books.

      "Never invest beyond theShanhai Pass", as the saying goes.The particular cultural environment and openness make the brain drain in Northeast China extremely serious. However, Miao Qing, a seemingly delicate doctoral student from a famous school, resolutely went northward because she had a personal plan thatwas related to both her father and herself, namely, to design a world-leading large aircraft. Her father once said that just as a poet without imagination must be a lousy poet, a country without advanced aircraft could never escape the fate of a backward country. For this reason, Miao Qing started her career atKunpeng Group, later went to Feiying Company to produce a leading small low-altitude aerial drone, and then sheplayed the leading role in the national G-31 project that designed a stealth supersonic aircraft and made a successful trial flight.

    • Trusted Partner
      Humanities & Social Sciences
      June 2025

      Revolution in China and Russia

      Reorganizing empires into nation states

      by Luyang Zhou

      Most scholars believe that China's nationality policy, like that of other socialist states, imitated the Soviet nationality model, a system which has been termed an "affirmative action empire." This book offers two contributions to the literature which run counter to this convention. First, it argues that the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Soviet Union (USSR) were different; while the PRC was aimed to build an ideal-typical nation-state, the USSR was an open union of nation-states that was only temporarily confined to a physical territory. Second, while scholars who have noted this difference attribute it to contextual factors, such as ethnic structure, geopolitical status, and Russia's intervention into the Chinese Revolution, this book contends that context shaped the Sino-Soviet difference, yet it did not determine it. Rather, there was significant leeway between the implications of the contextual factors, and what the policy-designers ultimately established. This book probes who held agency, and how these individuals bridged this gap.

    • Trusted Partner
      Humanities & Social Sciences
      September 2025

      China as context

      Anthropology, post-globalisation and the neglect of China

      by Di Wu, Andrea E. Pia, Ed Pulford

      Decades-old calls to promote the significance of China for anthropological theory and the social sciences more generally ring more urgently today given China's importance to social, political and economic life globally. Yet Chinese-grounded ideas remain marginal to the discipline, and scholarly discussions retain a sense of China as an 'Other' apart from the 'real' world, and thus unsuitable or generating widely applicable theoretical ideas. Inspired by East Asian postcolonial scholarship, this volume tackles this unsettling situation head-on, arguing that without taking China seriously as a powerful agent, a locus of knowledge production, and a new discursive topos of an emerging post-global imaginary, anthropologists and other social scientists may fail to adequately analyse the global present and make sense of both the material and immaterial forces that animate it, wherever and however they work. Amid the end of Western globalisation and shifting anthropological understandings of relations between ethnography and theory, we show how 'China' must be understood as the ordinary 'context' for anthropological research practices worldwide.

    • Trusted Partner
      2024

      Where is Russia Heading?

      by Jens Siegert

      Vladimir Putin has been ruling Russia for 25 years. There is no end in sight to his dictatorship. He relies on repression at home and is waging a war of destruction against a neighbouring country. The conflict with the West has long become a systemic conflict between an illiberal-autocratic ideology and liberal-democratic principles. Nothing will change as long as Putin remains in power. Nevertheless, as far as can be ascertained under unfree conditions, the majority of the population seems to be supporting Putin. Does this mean that too many people in Russia do not want democracy or peace? Will everything remain the same after Putin? Or is there a chance that Russia will eventually take a different, more democratic path? Whatever the outcome of the war in Ukraine, Russia is not going to disappear. We will still have to deal with our big neighbour in the east. This makes it all the more important to focus on longer-term developments. As a recognised expert on Russian history and society, the author outlines what the post-Putin era might look like. His in-depth analysis makes it clear that Russia is partly Putin, but Putin is not everything about Russia.

    • Trusted Partner
      Humanities & Social Sciences
      October 2021

      Ireland and the European Union

      Economic, political and social crises

      by Michael Holmes, Kathryn Simpson, Dimitris Papadimitriou, Kathryn Simpson, Paul Tobin

      This book examines how Ireland's relationship with the EU was affected by a succession of crises in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The financial crisis, the Brexit crisis and the migration crisis were not of equal significance on the island of Ireland. The financial crisis was a huge issue for the Republic but not Northern Ireland, Brexit had a major impact in both polities, the migration and populism issues were less controversial, while foreign policy challenges had a minimal impact. The book provides a summary of the main features of each of the crises to be considered, from both the EU and the Irish perspective. Ireland and the European Union is the first volume of its kind to provide a comprehensive analysis on British-Irish relations in the context of Brexit. It assesses the Withdrawal Agreement and Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, the devolution settlement and the 1998 Agreement, as well as the European dimension to Northern Ireland's peace process. The contributors explore a number of policy areas that are central to the understanding of each of the crises and the impact of each for Ireland. Chapters examine issues such as security, migration and taxation as well as protest politics, political parties, the media, public opinion and the economic impact of each of these crises on Ireland's relationship with the EU.

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