Middle World

A rich and varied collection of contemporary short stories, extracts from novels, and poetry that will go a long way toward informing the English-speaking world of the latest developments in Iranian literature. This sampling - or to use the Farsi term golchine, a bouquet - provides a window onto an important but sorely neglected segment of world culture. We hope it will also serve to awaken further interest in the work and in translations of Iranian novelists and poets.

"A vivid, action-packed story that is based as much on confrontation and problem-solving as it is on Theo's evolution and courage." — Midwest Book Review "This book made me feel anew the sense of wonder that originally drew me to the fantasy genre in the first place." Reedsy Discovery Theodore Beckett knows nothing of magic until his bedroom wall smiles... ... and then tries to kill him. Doors to a whole new world suddenly crash open for Theo, a world filled with monsters, magicians, and dragons. His role in this secret society slowly unfolds when Theo learns he is the son of its lost ...

This absorbing account of the political and social reformations that transformed the lands of Islam during the 19th and early 20th centuries offers a game-changing assessment of the Middle East. Beginning his account in 1798, de Bellaigue demonstrates how the Middle East has long welcomed modern ideals and practices, including the adoption of modern medicine, the emergence of women from seclusion, and the development of democracy.

Based on firsthand reporting from Syria and throughout the Middle East, Inside Syria unravels the complex dynamics underlying the Syrian Civil War. Through vivid, on-the-ground accounts and interviews with rebel leaders, regime supporters, and Syrian president Bashar al-Assad himself, veteran journalist Reese Erlich gives the listener a better understanding of this momentous power struggle and why it matters.

Egypt is one of the oldest countries in the world. People love to visit the ancient pyramids outside of Cairo, the capital of Egypt. Thousands of years ago, pharaohs ruled Egypt, and people mummified many pharaohs after they died. Students will hear all about mummy museums, school and work life in Egypt, and how Egyptians use the Nile River in their daily lives.

Struggling to reconcile the Muslim society he was living in as a scientist and physician and the religion he was being raised in, Ali A. Rizvi eventually lost his faith. Discovering that he was not alone, he moved to North America and promised to use his new freedom of speech to represent the voices that are usually quashed before reaching the mainstream media - those of Atheist Muslims.

Whereas for much of human history slavery was somewhat arbitrary, in its later forms, it often had a discriminatory component, typically based on race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion. This distinction shows how the practitioners of slavery justified the practice in terms of ideology, and Slavic people were discriminated against within the Ottoman Empire. Slavs had lived in the lands of today’s Eastern European region for centuries.

In Intimate Enemies, Khaled Diab explores the human lives at stake in the conflict. From Palestinians evading checkpoints to attend parties to the different approaches Israelis take in defining personal Jewish identities to the experiences of women from across the region, Intimate Enemies looks at what makes people tick. It also becomes clear in this closer understanding of the people how misleading a simple notion of two opposing sides really is.

In this groundbreaking book, renowned scholar Philip Jenkins explores a vast and forgotten network of the world’s largest and most influential Christian churches that existed to the east of the Roman Empire. These churches and their leaders ruled the Middle East for centuries and became the chief administrators and academics in the new Muslim empire. The author recounts the shocking history of how these churches—those that had the closest link to Jesus and the early church—eventually died.

The world is changing rapidly. Globalization and technological innovation have created new opportunities and challenges for individuals, communities and nations. With these changes it has become necessary to revisit to what extent children and youth are being prepared to be effective and productive citizens and workers, and to what extent they are equipped not just to understand the future, but to invent it. In the 21st century the skills and dispositions necessary to live meaningful lives, to participate socially, civically and economically, have expanded from those which were sufficient ...

How do we help students work effectively with others from diverse cultural backgrounds? How do we help them understand the world? How do we prepare them for work and life in an era of globalization, volatility, and uncertainty? Empowering Global Citizens offers educators and parents compelling answers to those questions. This book presents The World Course, a curriculum on global citizenship education designed to equip students with the competencies they need to thrive and contribute to sustainable development in an era of globalization. Drawing on curriculum mapping this book offers a ...

The start of the Arab spring, inspires Leila to summon enough courage and run away from her husband, believing that in Tahrir Square she will free herself from the shackles of her abusive marriage. An illegitimate child of an illiterate maid and a well-off doctor, Leila’s dream is to find her father, a man she only knows from an old yellowed photograph. Instead, she spends twenty-five years in a loveless marriage. After she escapes her husband, she embarks on an adventure which takes her from joining a revolution, to the slums of Cairo where she gets involved with a fundamentalist sect. ...

Come with John and Judy Pex as they hike the 600-mile Israel National Trail from the Egyptian to the Lebanese borders. During 42 days of trekking through spectacular scenery, Arab towns and villages, past Jewish, Muslim, Druze, and Christian holy sites, they discover: Sights seldom seen by tourists Physical challenges and spiritual tests Cultural encounters and historical insights Lessons about peace, faith, and endurance.This book will appeal to: Students of the Bible Anyone pursuing the great hiking trails of the world Adults who want vigorous role models and new challenges People of ...

In 2011, Marwan Hisham and his two friends - fellow working-class college students Nael and Tareq - joined the first protests of the Arab Spring in Syria, in response to a recent massacre. Arm in arm they marched, poured Coca-Cola into one another’s eyes to blunt the effects of tear gas, ran from the security forces, and cursed the country’s president, Bashar al-Assad. It was ecstasy. A long-bottled revolution was finally erupting, and freedom from a brutal dictator seemed, at last, imminent.

Nafsi is a collection of poetry and prose, calling you to a spiritual revolution. This compelling work examines the conflict between the soul and the body: its desires, its pain, its love, and its hope. Through poetic allure, this collection will speak directly to your soul, in a way that is hauntingly beautiful.

Demigod. Dragon Rider. Kick-Ass Warrior. 15-year-old Zoey knows a bad hand when it’s dealt and survival is slim. With only two days until her boyfriend dies from a wound inflicted by Loki, The God of Trickery, her only option is to betray her father Thor’s trust and commit treason against Asgard. Stealing Mjolnir, she leaves the land open to attack from giants and dark elves. With hammer in hand and honed martial arts skills, she lays her life on the line to fight a fierce and brutal dragon guarding the only magical artifact powerful enough to heal the boy she loves. Defenders of Asgard...

At the Arab Spring's hopeful start, Alia Malek returned to Damascus to reclaim her grandmother's apartment, which had been lost to her family since Hafez al-Assad came to power in 1970. Its loss was central to her parents' decision to make their lives in America. In chronicling the people who lived in the Tahaan building, past and present, Alia portrays the Syrians—the Muslims, Christians, Jews, Armenians, and Kurds—who worked, loved, and suffered in close quarters, mirroring the political shifts in their country

We tend to think about the Middle Ages as a dark and backward time, characterised by violence, ignorance and superstition. We believe that life was unchanging over the period, so if a peasant fell asleep in in the year 1000 and woke up six hundred years later, he would return to a world that was instantly recognisable. We hold that change is facilitated by science and technological innovation, and that it was the inventions of recent centuries, from the steam engine to the Internet, that created the modern world. We couldn't be more wrong.

Forced to become a normal citizen, the exiled son of the late Shah of Iran attempts to provide understanding and direction for his country and its people.

It’s a Mad, Mad World + Ishtar + Raiders of the Lost Ark = The ISIS Affair Meet the most unlikely outlaws – two backpacking curmudgeons. This crotchety Brit and ancient American may be the oldest backpackers in the world, but it doesn’t stop them from finding trouble in spades. Attempting to smuggle priceless world heritage antiquities to safety, they find themselves in the crosshairs of none other than ISIS. The deadly militants’ best-laid plans are thwarted by the hapless smugglers themselves in this “laugh out loud funny” adventure. If not for a Yazidi Joan of Arc, these ...