The Hijaz


Book Description

Dahlan offers an alternative vision of Islamic governance through the history and promise of the Hijaz, the first state of Islam. The Hijaz, in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia, was the first Islamic state in Mecca and Medina. This new interpretative history offers a fresh vision of Islamic governance and law as a positive force for political reform in the Middle East and beyond. Applying key Islamic principles of public good to contemporary life, Malik Dahlan challenges two dominant narratives. He reclaims the development of Islamic statecraft as the wellspring of collective identity and statesmanship in the Arab world, simultaneously influenced and disrupted by Westphalian statehood models and Enlightenment notions of self-determination. He equally rejects the appropriation of Islamic governance and the Caliphate concept by both the post-modern, non-territorial Al-Qaeda and the neo-medievalist ISIS. Celebrating the history and untapped potential of a region where Arab leaders built the ideological foundations of an emerging polity, The Hijaz is a compelling alternative analysis of governance in the Arabian Peninsula and the global Islamic community, and of its interaction with the wider world.




The Tokyo Trial


Book Description

Overshadowed for many years by the Nuremberg trials, the Tokyo Trial--one of the major events in the aftermath of World War II--has elicited renewed interest since the 50th anniversary of the war's end. Revelations of previously hidden war crimes, including comfort women and biological warfare, and the establishment of international courts to try Yugoslav and Rwandan war criminals have added to the interest. This bibliography addressees the renewed interest in the Tokyo Trial, providing over 700 citations to official publications, scholarly monographs and journal articles, contemporaneous accounts, manuscript collections, and Web sites. Also included are sources on the Trial's influence on international law and military law and unresolved issues being debated to this day. Defining war crimes after the fact, practicing victor's justice to punish enemies, holding military commanders accountable for their troops' actions--these were issues confronted in the Tokyo Trial and other Asia-Pacific war crimes trials. They are still being investigated, researched, and debated today. This bibliography helps to illuminate these issues from different perspectives, providing a variety of ways to locate relevant English-language sources. The volume also includes citations to contemporary issues stemming from the Asia-Pacific war crimes trials--comfort women, biological warfare, and unresolved issues of reparations and official apologies. The book is a useful guide to sources on all aspects of the Tokyo Trial.







Gibraltar and the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39


Book Description

Incorporating local, national and international dimensions of the conflict, Gibraltar and the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39 provides the first detailed account of the British enclave Gibraltar's role during and after the Spanish Civil War. The neutral stance adopted by democratic powers upon the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War is well-known. The Non-Intervention Committee played a key role in this strategy, with Great Britain a key player in what became known as the "London Committee". British interests in the Iberian Peninsula, however, meant that events in Spain were of crucial importance to the Foreign Office and the victory of the Popular Front in February, 1936 was deemed a potential threat that could drive the country towards instability. This book explores how British authorities in Gibraltar ostensibly initiated a formal policy of neutrality when the uprising took place, only for the Gibraltarian authorities to provide real support for the Nationalists under the surface. The book draws on a wealth of primary source material,some of it little-known before now, to deliver a significant contribution to our knowledge of the part played by democratic powers in the 1930s' confrontation between Communism and Fascism. It is essential reading for anyone seeking a complete understanding of the Spanish Civil War.







Chinese History


Book Description

Endymion Wilkinson's bestselling manual of Chinese history has long been an indispensable guide to all those interested in the civilization and history of China. In this latest edition, now in a bigger format, its scope has been dramatically enlarged by the addition of one million words of new text. Twelve years in the making, the new manual introduces students to different types of transmitted, excavated, and artifactual sources from prehistory to the twentieth century. It also examines the context in which the sources were produced, preserved, and received, the problems of research and interpretation associated with them, and the best, most up-to-date secondary works. Because the writing of history has always played a central role in Chinese politics and culture, special attention is devoted to the strengths and weaknesses of Chinese historiography.




Tables and Indexes


Book Description