"Benjamin C. Fortna. The Circassian: A Life of Eşref Bey, Late Ottoman Insurgent and Special Agent." Asian Affairs, 49(3), pp. 517–518

In 1967, a young German historian, who had produced a prize-winning study of Berlin during the First World War, travelled to Abu Dhabi to join her British husband, a young geologist who had arrived...

This is one of the most comprehensive books on the international dimensions of the Syria crisis. It is a thoughtful analysis of the roles of six outside countries that have, to a greater or lesser ...

"Nathalie Clayer and Xavier Bougarel. Europe’s Balkan Muslims: A New History." Asian Affairs, 49(1), pp. 130–131

This is a fascinating book. Students of the Ottoman Empire usually view relations with the Great Bear to the north through the military and diplomatic prism. This book examines the formative relati...

Ross Burns was the Australian Ambassador in Damascus in the 1980s. He went on to be Ambassador to UNESCO in Paris, as well as in South Africa, Greece and Israel. After retirement he did a PhD on cl...

This book has been a collective venture steered by four advisory editors – Bernard Haykel, Frauke Heard-Bey, Mohammed al-Muqadam and James Piscatori – and with support from the Altajir Trust. Each ...

"Martin Rose. There and Back by Candle-Light: Two Years in Baghdad 1988-1990." Asian Affairs, 48(2), pp. 363–364

"Roger Hardy. The Poisoned Well: Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East." Asian Affairs, 48(1), pp. 135–136

"Philip Mansel. Aleppo: The Rise and Fall of Syria's Great Merchant City." Asian Affairs, 47(3), pp. 483–484

This is a handsome book, readable and reliable, about the story of Constantinople/Istanbul in the first half of the 20th century. Story, rather than history, for it moves around periods, places and...