“Completely beguiling.”—William Dalrymple, author of The Golden RoadFinding Aladdin is a tale full of strange and wonderful twists that celebrates one of the world’s greatest storytellers.When The Thousand and One Nights were first translated into European languages in the 1700s, they caused a sensation—and none more so than “Aladdin,” the tale of a good-for-nothing layabout who happened on a magic lamp. Always th...

This unique, absorbing biography of Jerusalem brings to light its overlooked histories and diverse contemporary voices.In Jerusalem, what you see and what is true are two different things. The Old City has never had “four quarters” as its maps proclaim. And beyond the crush and frenzy of its major religious sites, many of its quarters are little known to visitors, its people ignored and their stories untold. Nine Quarters of Jerusalem lets the communities ...

This is Gaza – a place of humanity and creativity, rich in culture and industry. A place now utterly devastated, its entire population displaced by a seemingly endless onslaught, its heritage destroyed.Daybreak in Gaza is a record of an extraordinary place and people, and of a culture preserved by the people themselves. Vignettes of artists, acrobats, doctors, students, shopkeepers and teachers offer stories of love, life, loss and survival. They display the wealth of Gaza...

Eloquent, wide-ranging and informative ... a pleasure to read' Abdulrazak Gurnah'Finding Aladdin is truly a jewel. I could not put it down' Moudhy Al-Rashid, author of Between Two RiversThis is a book about stories and storytelling, and about celebrating a young storyteller whose name was almost lost to history.When The Arabian Nights were first translated into European languages in the 1700s, they caused a...

A GLOBE AND MAIL BEST BOOK“This story is a necessary lesson against hatred and revenge.” ELIE WIESEL, Nobel Peace Prize laureateDr. Izzeldin Abuelaish captured hearts and headlines around the world in the aftermath of horrific tragedy: on January 16, 2009, Israeli shells hit his home in the Gaza strip, killing three of his daughters and a niece.By turns inspiring and heartbreaking, hopeful and horrifying, this is Abuelaish’...

In the 1960s, Kamal Al-Solaylee’s father was one of the wealthiest property owners in Aden, in the south of Yemen, but when the country shrugged off its colonial roots, his properties were confiscated, and the family was forced to leave. The family moved first to Beirut, which suddenly became one of the most dangerous places in the world, then Cairo. After a few peaceful years, even the safe haven of Cairo struggled under a new wave of Islamic extremism that culminated with the assassinati...

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 parent's 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...

**“Ungrounding is a work of profound moral clarity and scientific precision, based on years of tireless collaboration and advocacy. Urgent and essential reading.” —David Wengrow, co-author of New York Times-bestselling The Dawn of EverythingFrom an acclaimed architect and investigator, a devastating, meticulous accounting of Israel’s destruction of Gaza**Eyal Weizman is one of the world’s leading experts on the relationship between violence, confl...

LONG-LISTED FOR THE CARNEGIE MEDALReminiscent of the work of Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich, an astonishing collection of intimate wartime testimonies and poetic fragments from a cross-section of Syrians whose lives have been transformed by revolution, war, and flight.Against the backdrop of the wave of demonstrations known as the Arab Spring, in 2011 hundreds of thousands of Syrians took to the streets demanding freedom, democracy ...

An eminent historian looks to the present and future of Afghanistan as the U.S. withdraws from the longest war in its history. THE BROOKINGS ESSAY: In the spirit of its commitment to high-quality, independent research, the Brookings Institution has commissioned works on major topics of public policy by distinguished authors, including Brookings scholars. The Brookings Essay is a multi-platform product aimed to engage readers in open dialogue and debate. The views expressed, however, are so...

LETTERS FROM GAZA is more than a book - it's a voice from the silence, a heartbeat in the wreckage. Through poetry, letters, and monologues, 30 Gazans lay bare their fears, grief, and relentless hope amid devastation. Since October 2023 the world has been witnessing the unfolding of the largest humanitarian crisis of this century. And the men, women and children spoken of around the world, fight being silenced through their written words. While we lamented at the visuals of unimaginable de...

How did Syria’s revolution reach this its current boiling point? And what’s next? This updated edition of My House in Damascus offers an insider’s view on these questions and the darker recesses of Syria’s history, politics, and society.Diana Darke, a fluent Arabic speaker who moved to Damascus in 2004 after decades of regular visits, details how the Assad regime, and its relationship to the people, differs from the regimes in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya—and why it was thus ...