The Silk Roads - A New History of the World (Peter Frankopan, 2015)

Interesting, readable summary though there are plenty of aspects I didn’t love, per below. The subtitle - “A New History of the World” - suggests too much scope - hard to be comprehensive - yet I like the focus on the old Silk Road territories (though he applies the “____ Road” concept pretty much around the world). 

Presents history in this part of the world as sort of a discovery, unknown; I think anyone that’s read much history would have quite a bit of knowledge here.  Still - it’s a useful book, a good overview notwithstanding the annoyances. 

I do the think the author falls prey to the 2015 (not new in 2015, and persisting) trend of demonizing the West and acting like other regions lack agency. Maybe I’m too sensitive to this approach but I don’t think so.  The chapter about slavery suggesting Europe more or less invented it - c’mon. Dismiss European motives as gold, power. Europeans as backward, venal. Mongols as wise administrators - OK a little violent in the conquest phase but then long periods of peace and prosperity, OK maybe so. Muslims as tolerant, open minded. Etc. Seems to selectively present the histories on these topics. 

British actions post-WWI described as making the Middle East unstable - this after hundreds of pages often describing conflicts in the Middle East going back thousands of years. OK. 

Interesting - the idea that the spread of the religions along the trade routes somewhat threatened those same religions, motivating the religions to become more strident.  Buddhism starts using big statues and nice shrines and stupas to stand out; Zoroastrianism becomes more nationalistic, loses much of its famous tolerance; Christianity more of a threat especially when Constantine gets on board. This lets up when Rome weakens due to the Huns, etc., but then resurfaces when the Huns weaken. And has continued.

Vikings/Rus were effective, a bigger factor than I normally think. 

His summary of the run-up to the Crusades was a useful complement to this recently-read book. 

Spanish taking silver and gold from the Americas on the ships; later oil is taken from the Middle East; this is discussed as some sort of illegitimate plundering. Not sure if this can be distinguished from actions of conquering groups throughout history.  And these supposedly advanced-peaceful societies didn’t have the know-how or interest to ever utilize these resources in the same way anyway. See Venezuelan oil. Yes, local labor was not treated well at all as part of the resource extraction, at least in the 16th-17th century Americas. As it happens. 

Russia experiencing difficulties in handling new central Asian territories, including fear of Islamic populations. Some history here.

Author kind of got bogged down in a lot of detail about Iran and Iraq in mid-20th century and into the 21st, I didn’t need that much detail plus the history here isn’t aged enough to draw conclusions. Britain trying to hang in there especially with Iran, I can see why Saeed’s generation saw the British behind so many things - they often were! US kind of steps into this role later. Lots of blame assigned to Brits and US. 

Russian revolution in early 20th-century - he writes that Russia was pushing self-determination in the various republics ha ha. Hilarious Lenin quote about freedom and rights on 335.

Page 391, Stalin’s speech opposing capitalism; author says (I think or hope paraphrasing Stalin) that capitalism is responsible for suffering, mass murder and horrors of the war of the twentieth century. Communism as “a new system that accentuated similarities rather than differences, that replaced hierarchies with equality” (author’s words) What?

Page 503 - the usual wrap up - everything is in a transition stage at the time the book is written, totally unclear what’s coming next! (As to everything looking back, it was obvious and easy to criticize.)

The Crusades through Arab Eyes (Amin Maalouf, 1984)

(276 pages)

Readable, not long, interesting throughout.

The invading Christians were of course an area of focus. But a bigger area of focus was the competition among what, at the time, were smaller Islamic states (if that's the right term), the intra-family succession battles, etc.  Shia-Sunni divide. A window where didn't have hegemony such as earlier caliphates, Seljuks, Ottomans. The various Christian invaders had plenty of intra-Christian squabbles as well. And of course this led to some alliances, some quite enduring, between Islamic and Christian groups!

Islamic and Christian leaders were united in respecting trade ("Silk Roads" book reinforces this) - interesting that the religious fervor only went about so far in those days. More common interests between Christian and Islamic elements than typically discussed when thinking about this era.

Crusaders often were excellent fighters, often were boorish and excessively violent; but never had the numbers to make a huge presence.  Were able to hold onto various cities and territories, including Jerusalem, for quite some time.

First Crusade 1095, last Crusade launched 1271 and Crusader presence mostly marginalized by 1291.  Saladin with a key victory (Horns of Hattin) in 1187. Predecessor (Nur-al-din) effective at using jihad-type language and concepts to whip up support. 

And then the incursion of the Mongols became a huge part of the end game of this story - Genghis Khan and descendants - destroyed Baghdad (a relatively "new" city) in 1258. Some Christian and some Islamic elements sought alliances with the Mongols - they were super powerful especially in the early going.

Seems like contemporary voices want to focus solely on Christian-Islamic divide created in the Crusader days, but the story was way more complicated than that. Accusations of "imperialism" are thrown around without remembering how places like Jerusalem fell under Islamic control in the first place. 

The Kingdom of Copper (S.A. Chakraborty, 2019)

(609 pages)

Book club selection (via Emily; session held (via Zoom) 19 July 2020).

Second in a trilogy; we had read the first as a book club selection. 

Lots of action, actually violence - often rather heavy for my taste these days.

Mostly the same characters as in the first book.

Emphasis on tribal groups does remind of current political climate - where identity politics seem to attract votes - ugh.

The use of words and concepts from India, Persia, and what I'll call the Middle East is interesting. 

The plot not so much.  And I have trouble remembering what form of magic which characters can use, and what tribal characteristics apply.

Arabs: A 3000 Year History (Tim Mackintosh Smith, 2019)

(536 pages)

I found this consistently interesting and useful - recommended. A motivation for reading is my confusion about the term "Arab" - so few of them it seems, yet widespread use of the term around the Middle East and Northern Africa, etc.

Notes follow -

opening segment explores period before Islam - seldom read about this - points out, that as one might expect, Islam didn't arise out of nowhere.  ideas attributed to Mohammed had roots

pilgrimage to a town mentioned cb Mecca precursor

settled areas in the south - current Yemen - including Saba (OT refers to as Sheba, as in "Queen of").  north interacting with Fertile Crescent.  wanderers in the center - nomads, raiders - referred to as a'rab, though origin unclear.  greener at one time, though that's so long ago.

as mentioned in this book - superpowers would use/abuse these folks (Babylonia, Assyria; Rome, Persia) in their own contests - became important power brokers over time - unique ability to travel and raid in unfriendly terrain. as superpowers exhaust each other, opportunity arises; combination of camels and horses - lethal!

organizing thesis for the book is the language - I think meaning "high Arabic" - not really spoken, but widely understood - Koran as highest expression

deciding to administer lands in Arabic probably saved the language, rescued it from fate of Latin/Greek, overcame thinness on the ground of actual Arabs

conquest and language spread first . . . then Islamization - hard to define it - Tom Holland discussion, this is a couple hundred years after the fact and with specific political and social needs to address.

Arabs from "the island" (saudi arabia proper) are few in number and swamped by locals in many or most places conquered during the outburst.  prime example = Persia - culture and numerosity overwhelmed - even in terms of Mohammed's [sons?] marrying Persian women

deep divisions from the very beginning

reactionary forces strong, seemingly significantly stronger than in other cultures - the idea that everything stopped with the Koran [and whatever approved interpretations] - rather amazing lack of progress that persists to this day

oddity of contemporary Egypt as an Arab state in many respects (other states in the area as well) - Arab, really?

complicated to say the least

The City of Brass (S.A. Chakraborty, 2017)

(526 pages)

Book club selection (via NOC; session held 28 January 2018).

Book one of what's intended to be a trilogy.

Not necessarily my favorite style of book, but this had a lot going for it, and the author is skillful. 

I like that it was set in the Mideast (however defined); built around terms like "djinn" (described as something (or someone!) that an observant/sensitive human might occasionally see out of the corner of his/her eye - nice!); this takes the reader somewhere. 

Very good at drawing characters - avoided the all-good or all-evil trap; most were nicely nuanced.

Not a political novel, at least as far as I can tell - but a pretty sophisticated recounting of the kinds of pressures politicians face (and/or create/encourage!)

Nahri is the lead character - likable. 

Lots of magic - but presented in an interesting way - characters have to learn how to use it; some limits on duration/power; not just an elixir.

The Valley of the Assassins - Freya Stark (1930-1932)

I very much liked this.  Per the "Introduction" we learn that the author was a most unlikely candidate to come up with a book like this - young, inexperienced, difficult growing-up circumstances.  She somehow took to the notion of spending time in various Islamic countries; in this case (early 1930s), mountainous hinterlands between Iran and Iraq ("Luristan").  These areas had barely seen Europeans (let alone female travelers).  Perhaps sensing some value from map-making etc., British authorities facilitate her travels.

I like that she tells a small-scale story of her travels.  It's the 1930s - but she is in a remote area - generally poor, deeply traditional, conservatively Islamic - her style permits a reader to somewhat imagine how travelers "got by" in remote areas like this not just in the 1930s, but no doubt for centuries and centuries before.  Are there still any areas so remote such that this kind of trip could happen?

And the travel story (and interaction with folks she encounters) is woven into the area's geography and history - in particular the Assassins  - who show up in Crusader and other tales - finally subjugated by Mongol invaders in 14th century.

Banditry everywhere - but travelers encountering groups residing in tents - or in some areas villages - are invariably treated well.  (Though I suspect her English-ness helped in this regard.)  Often the hosts are heartrendingly poor - yet would be deeply offended if their hospitality was refused.  There is an incredibly powerful passage around page 61 of the paperback version - the author is treated to dinner by poor folks - who harvest their entire (and paltry) crop of tomatoes to serve their guests a tiny meal - the host's children (at least the three sons) are so sad to see this long-awaited treat used in such a fashion - the daughter less affected because she knew - as a daughter - she had no hope of getting a bite anyway - an instructive intersection of traditional hospitality, poverty, gender roles, etc.

I hadn't connected that - so close by Tehran - there are jungles and rice-growing areas (and malaria) as one crosses beyond mountainous areas (still unmapped in the 1930s) on the way to the Caspian Sea.

Reminded me somewhat of the Fermor books (in particular this one, and also this one) - he's traveling through Europe in the 1930s - of course an entirely different stage of development, but like Stark, Fermor was describing a world in the midst of rapid change.

Lots to think about here.

Chuchill’s Folly (How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq) (Christopher Catherwood, 2004)

Probably to make the book more salable, author tries to pin Iraq situation on Churchill; not that interesting as it just quotes a bunch of letters. Overall background discussion of this part of the world was useful.

• Sunni = 80+% of Muslims worldwide.
• Shiites = Iran, Iraq, Azaerbaijani. (Fatimids in Egypt were Shiite.)
• Kurds tend to be Sunni, ethnically close to Iranian.
• Arab-centered in Baghdad in 800ish? (previously in Damascus). Had been stopped by Charles Martel at Tours in 732.
• Mongols take Baghdad in 1258; convert to Islam; center the caliph in Constantinople (Ottoman Turks) after 1453. Taking territory in Africa, Balkans, Iran. Vienna attacks fail in 1529 and 1689; Ottoman Empire weakening thereafter.
• “Turkification” starts around 1900; WWI intervenes.

Britain sponsors kings in Iraq not thought to be legitimate; Sunnis empowered; fail to create Kurdistan (Kurds split among Turkey, Iraq, etc.)