Product Description
Yemen's modern history is unique and deserves to be better understood. While the borders of most Middle East states were defined by colonial powers after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, a single Yemeni state was not formed until 1990. In fact, much of Yemen's twentieth-century history was taken up constructing such a state, forged after years of civil war. The book is augmented by illustrations, maps and a detailed chronology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Incomprehensible
If you're looking for a book to get a layman's understanding of Yemen then avoid this one like the plague.It is totally incomprehensible even for someone with a university degree.It has clearly been written by an academic whose target audience are other academics.This book is as dry as the deserts around Yemen--rub this one too hard and it'll burst into flames!I tried to read it 3 times and couldn't get past page 10.THIS IS THE WORST BOOK I HAVE EVER BOUGHT FROM AMAZON.Now I have to buy YEMEN: DANCING ON THE HEAD OF SNAKES...which I understand is a much easier read.

Excellent Overview
I spent three months in Yemen last year and bought this book before I went. I'm glad I did, because it turned out to be the perfect primer. A HISTORY OF MODERN YEMEN gives a clear, accessible account of the civil wars throughout the twentieth century that preceded the union of the two Yemens in 1990; and towards the end it offers penetrating insights into the way a new upper class has emerged along with a new desperate underclass. Paul Dresch is also good at highlighting how, despite unification, a north-south divide continues to plague a drive for a true national identity. This book struck me as unusally accessible for the general reader/traveller considering it is principally aimed at academics.

Rich with details
I first picked up this book to validate its' authenticity, being from Yemen myself. To be honest, I learned a few facts that I was able to impress my colleagues with. Thanks! ... Read more

Product Description
Yemen's archaeological treasures tell the story of a rich pre-Islamic civilisation of international significance. Alessandro de Maigret, doyen of the archaeologists of the region, sifts through all the archaeological evidence to present a definitive account of the evolution of a civilisation of high significance. Since its publication in Italian in 1996, this work has gained an international reputation as a valuable work of scholarship - indeed, the key text on southern Arabian archaeology. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. ... Read more

Product Description
The sedentary tribes of highland Yemen have played a prominent role in the history of South Arabia for many centuries. Combining ethnography with history, this book describes the tribal system over the last thousand years, discusses the changing place of these tribes in the world about them, and examines the values tribal people bring to the contemporary world of nation-states. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good Cultural Study
This book reads like someone's college thesis.It does have alot of good anthropological observations on the tribes and insights into Yemeni tribal culture.It would be helpful to have the history section a little more organized, but it is worthwhile. Particularly helpful, if you have not any experience with Arab tribes or Yemen. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (7)

Good Read
I was looking for a book on Yemen and read the review in the Economist which strongly recommended it. I also thoroughly recommend it as a backgrounder on a country that keeps being mentioned as soon as AQ and or terrorism crops up. It is very readable and the author blends historical information with people she meets up with in a competent manner to keep the story rolling.

Excellent insight into this part of the world
This is a very good book for those willing to have a better view on social, cultural and business environment within the Middle East with Yemen representing probably one of the extreme sides in a number of areas. Coming from Europe, I felt that this book helped me to have more understanding on the drivers of agression from this region against the West, which appear to be rather logical and justified from the angle of people living there, while being illogical and punishable from the Western point of view.

interesting approach, but hurriedly executed
Could have been much better, as it needs fact-checking, various of the statements concerning high-level officials are both controversial and unsubstantiated, and there is a dearth of Arabic sources. To cite one example, in the chapter on Aden:

"The upshot of almost 20 years of bad luck, bungling and rampant greed has been that in late 2008 Dubai Ports International, which already runs Dubai's South terminal as well as the ports of Jeddah and Djibouti on either side of the Red Sea, assumed the running of Aden too. Expert outside observers pointed to the obvious danger of a monopoly which would mean Aden remaining the "Cinderella of the East" for decades to come."

-Dubai Ports International (DPI) no longer exists, it became DP World in 2005.
-Dubai does not run 'Jeddah Port', it runs the South Container Terminal (which is not in Dubai).
-"Expert outside observers" should be credited, and the context elaborated, as this quite a claim!
-The (quite fascinating) story of the evolution of Aden port (the good/the bad) over the last 20 years is untouched.

Outstanding; but assumes 21st Century Western norms
This is an outstanding and important book, with a great deal of information and insight I haven't found anywhere else. I recommend it to anyone interested in Yemen; it's an important book.

Because it's important, it's worth considering some of the author's assumptions that are implicit in the book, and that affect her portrayal and interpretations. Most important, she assumes that any patch of territory like Yemen that isn't controlled by outsiders should be a nation state (i.e. something that can join the UN, send and receive ambassadors, negotiate with businesses, NGOs and other governments, etc.) Any place that isn't a nation state or controlled by a nation state is considered to be a "failed state". Is this viewpoint relevant to places like Yemen? Maybe, maybe not. About 50 years ago I lived in an Islamic country that was in the middle of a long four-cornered civil war, and I observed two sorts of people. People who lived in more-or-less modern cities and who had some European-style education wanted a nation state. But the majority of the people I met were living in a feudal, tribal system rather like that which many Yemenis live in today, and this large collection of people felt no need for a nation state; their tribal customs and courtesies, and in particular their dependence on tribal leaders chosen because people respected them, satisfied their desire for government, and they resisted attempts to bring them under the jurisdiction of any central government. So what's wrong with that, except that it doesn't conform to European and American stereotypes.

Victoria Clark, the author, seems bemused by the extent to which she was welcomed by all sorts of people in Yemen. At one point in the book she conjectures that a particular set of people thought she represented the British government, and could therefore do them favors. I doubt that. In every Islamic country there is a very strong imperative to be courteous and outgoing to strangers; this comes explicitly from the Koran. (Of course, it doesn't protect people who behave badly, outraging the locals, but Ms. Clark knows Yemen well enough not to do that.) So far as supposing she could get help from the British government, there's a simpler and less devious explanation. In a tribal society information about what's going on over the next hill, in the next tribe, is enormously valuable, because ordinary communications are sporadic. I found, in the course of two or three years of dealing with tribespeople, that all I needed to provide in return for the generosity of those who fed and housed me, was information about what was going on elsewhere that the tribe hadn't been able to acquire in any other way. These were sophisticated people, living in what was basically a medieval setting, and they needed the best information they could get. I bet the same is true in Yemen today.

A minor but revealing point. At one place in the book Ms. Clark enthuses about the activities in the old Sanaa souk during the evenings; she found them exotic and fascinating. Well, I've spent a lot of time in such souks, and came to recognize that they serve basically the same function as a US shopping mall; a place to buy what you need or sell what you have, a place to find entertainment aimed at the local audience, a place to meet acquaintances and lounge around or wander around with them. A souk is indeed fascinating, just as a good shopping mall is fascinating, but it isn't at all exotic; it caters to the needs and desires of those who frequent it. And, like a good shopping mall, a large souk, in addition to the everyday items that are bought and sold, has very beautiful and very expensive merchandise for sale if you know whom to talk with and praise the workmanship and beauty of what they show you that's not on display. Ms. Clark's reaction to the Sanaa souk makes me suspect that she isn't as immersed in Arab culture as she might be.

Still, it's a wonderful and important book.

essential reading on Yemen
This book is simply a must-read for everyone who is interested - privately or professionally - in Yemen. It is well researched and contains aspects which might not be so well known (e.g. concerning the circumstances around the country's unification). It also aptly describes the mounting difficulties of President Saleh's regime to come to grips with the ever increasing challenges to the country's stability. ... Read more

Product Description
Yemen’s inhospitable mountain ranges and fiercely independent people have kept all but the most determined invader at bay; and even the Ottomans, when they entered the region in the 16th century, were hard put to achieve more than a tenuous occupation of its highlands. Their military campaign was chronicled by Qutb al-Din al-Nahrawali, a scholar charged by an Ottoman general to document his army’s progress. Lightning Over Yemen makes an invaluable 16th century Ottoman source document available in English for the first time. Al-Nahrawali’s work vividly brings to life a vital period in the history of this far-flung province of the Ottoman empire, which Clive Smith’s exemplary translation fully conveys.
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Product Description
Saudi Arabia and Yemen are two countries of crucial importance in the Middle East and yet our knowledge about them is highly limited, while typical ways of looking at the histories of these countries have impeded understanding. Counter-Narratives brings together a group of leading scholars of the Middle East using new theoretical and methodological approaches to cross-examine standard stories, whether as told by Westerners or by Saudis and Yemenis, and these are found wanting. The authors assess how grand historical narratives such as those produced by states and colonial powers are currently challenged by multiple historical actors, a process which generates alternative narratives about identity, the state and society.
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Product Description
This volume comprises 20 studies in English relating to the political, social and economic history and culture of the Yemen and Oman, particularly in the early and medieval periods. Specific articles concern the 7th/13th century traveller, Ibn al-Mujawir, and the culture of southeastern Arabia. The Ayyubid, Rasulid and Tahirid dynasties are also covered in some detail. Each article has been annotated to put in the context of current research by the author. ... Read more

Product Description
Between 1962 and 1965 Britain engaged in covert operations in support of Royalist forces fighting the Egyptian backed Republican regime that had seized power in the Yemeni capital Sana'a in September 1962. Covert action was regarded as a legitimate tool of foreign policy as Britain attempted to secure the future of the newly formed South Arabian Federation against the animus of Nasser. The use of covert action, as well as the quasi approval given to the use of mercenaries to support the Royalist cause, was the inevitable result of policy differences within Whitehall (most notably between the 'mandarins' of the Colonial Office and the Foreign Office) as well as international constraints imposed upon the UK in the aftermath of the Suez crisis. The book examines the extent to which British policy, while successful in imposing a war of attrition upon Nasser in the Yemen, contributed to the political demise of the very objective covert action was designed to secure: the future stability of the Federation of South Arabia.The study makes extensive use of primary sources in producing the first detailed account of British involvement in the Yemen Civil War, and how the experience shaped British foreign policy. It breaks new ground by analyzing the extent to which Britain came to support the Royalist cause despite public declarations of non-involvement in the Yemen conflict, and details for the first time how London's tacit support for 'mercenary operations' in the Yemen came to enlist the help of Saudi Arabia and Israel. ... Read more

Product Description
The history of the Jews of Yemen began a long time before the advent in 622 AD of Islam. Their political and social highpoint came during the last generations of the Judaized Yemenite Kingdom of Himyar (c. 400-525). This text contains 16 studies, ecompassing various aspects of Jewish existence in Yemen as a "dhimmi" (protected) religious minority under Islam: history, social and cultural relations with the Muslim environment, culture, literature and language. ... Read more

Product Description
The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Yemen has been thoroughly updated and greatly expanded. Through its list of acronyms and abbreviations, a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 800 cross-referenced dictionary entries, greater attention has been given to foreign affairs, economic institutions and policies, social issues, religion, and politics. ... Read more

Product Description
The Other Zions tells the fascinating and little-known stories of independent Jewish states, kingdoms, and tribes throughout history. Though Israel is the only Jewish nation most people can name, there have been many more. Author Eric Maroney introduces readers to the Jews of Khazaria, Adiabene (modern day Iraq), Ethiopia, Birobidzhan (modern day Russia), Himyar (modern day Yemen), and more. Leading readers through the rich histories of these communities, this accessible book digs into the intriguing myths that surround many of these Jewish nations, including the legends of the _lost tribes of Israel._ ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The Other Zions
Jewish history has been viewed by two paradigms. The Jews with in their own land enjoying political independence and Jews living in the Diaspora under the yoke of a gentile government. What has been neglected is Jewish state craft outside the holy land. Jews living in communities outside of Israel have often lived in autonomous communities. They would run their day to day affair while religious authorities governed religious life. The community would pay its taxes and be left to run its affairs. The Jewish courts and religious leadership was run by the Rabbis. Rabbinical Judaism eschewed political power. None the less it provided the Jewish people with a model for self governance.

The ten lost tribes of Israel, their disappearance is mystery where did they go to. There were many legends that stated the Israelite Tribes had powerful Kingdoms somewhere further to the East. The Red Jews where supposedly locked up by Alexander the Great behind some big mountain and would one day reappear to wreak havoc on Christian Europe for all the trouble they caused their Jewish minority. Other stories abound about an Israelite Kingdom just beyond the Sambatyon River that roes with stones and only stops on the Sabbath. They are so powerful that Pester John has built fortifications along the river to stop any military advance. To the non-Jews this evoked fantasies of the Israelites taking vengeance or possibly helping them take the Holy Land from the Muslim. For the Jews who were powerless and dispossessed it was a fantasy to be relished.

Eldad Ha Dani was a dark skinned Jew who showed up in Europe according to him around 4 tribes had held dominion somewhere in Africa. They lived under no gentile yolk in the mountains and people paid them tribute. It is questionable how much of what he says is real.

Never the less there was a sort of Jewish autonomy in Ethiopia. In the hill country of Lake Tana there was a tribal federation of Jews that was independent from the king. The big question is where did these Jews come from? Some thought they were from a Union of Queen Sheba and Solomon, other say they were from the Tribe of Dan still even other say they came from Yemen and Elephantine in Egypt. Ethiopian Christianity and Judaism follow many commandments from the Old Testament. The Ethiopian used a language called Geez and they had no Hebrew document or history of using the tongue. They also hired Christian scribes to write their holy books.

Ethiopian Jews had very little in common with Rabbinic Judaism. They had monastic practices among other differences. They sprung from Ethiopian Christian in defiance to political authority. None the less they immigrated to Israel because a Rabbi said they were from the Tribe of Dan.

The most famous example of Jewish state craft outside of Israel is the kingdom of Khazaria. They were located around the black sea in Russia. There are various legends as to their origin and how they became Jewish. Hasdai Ibn Shaprut wrote to them and was in contact with the King named Joseph. The King and al the Noble were Jewish. King Bulan was the first king to adopt a simple version of Judaism. It is said that he had dream from God and from that Dream he chased out all the Wizard and Shamans. It was King Obadiah who brought the Kingdom up to date with Rabbinical Judaism. There are questions as to how Jews the Kingdom was. Some sources say that the entire kingdom was Jewish but Arab traveler like Ibn Fadlan said that Khazaria had a mix of Christian, Jews and Muslim, along with Pagan. They had a court much like a Sanhedrin which was comprised of members of all faiths. Bulan also staged debates between the three main monotheistic religions in order to determine which one was best for the Kingdom.

Another legend says that a group of Jews fled from Armenia due to oppression by idol worshippers. They had their Torah scrolls hidden in a cave. When the Jews came to Khazaria they melded with the population and their Judaism became watered down. Back then they had warlords who took command when the country was under attack. Once such warlord was Sabriel, a Jew. After being militarily victorious he fond the scrolls and was elected king. From that point on he re Jewifies the country.

The Hazards would later fall to the Russ Vikings.

Other examples of Jewish state craft took place in Arabia. In Northern Arabia the Jews many who fled from Roman oppression adopted to the life style of the Arabs. Some Arabs became Jewish and /or borrowed Jewish customs. In Northern Arabia there were city-states that were founded by Jews. Medina and Khaybar are such examples. These Jews were powerful and wealthy. Muhammad and his introduction to Islam would change all that.

In Medina their were three Jewish Tribes and two non Jewish tribes. Their were alliances and conflicts. Muhammad was known as an astute judge. Some how the table turned and Muhammad turned against the Jews. The first two tribes were made to leave and they went to Khaybar. The last one chose to fight. They were defeated by Muhammad's forces after putting up stiff resistance. All the men were killed and the women and children were sold into slavery.

Khaybar son would fall as well. Expected help would never arrive and their were induced in to platitude by Muhammad's delay of invading them. Eventually he did attack and the Jews of Khaybar put up stiff resistance. Eventually they surrendered and had to give up half their crop in tribute. This impoverished the Jews. Many chose to convert to Islam to escape the heavy tax burden. Eventually the community melted away. There were rumors of Jewish Tribes wandering around Arabia even up until modern times.

further to South the Himyarite Kingdom came to fruition. This was located in Yemen. They became a powerful kingdom and had an impact of Arabian society in general. King Tuba went to wage war on Medina the Jewish city state. Instead of invading he ended up meeting two Rabbis and became so impressed with their sagacity that he ended converting to Judaism. Eventually the Whole kingdom became Jews. He took on Jewish wife and had several children. Joseph Dhu Nawas either an offspring or grandchild completed thing and brought the kingdom up to speed with Rabbinical Judaism.
However thanks to Wars against Ethiopia and Christianity that kingdom was soon over run. A puppet king ws installed and Ethiopian soldiers took advantage of the Land. eventually there was another Jewish uprising against the rule.

Another example of Jewish State craft was the State of Adiabene located i Northern Mesopotamia i the Parthian Empire which was at odds with the Roman empire. The Roman Empire was oppressing the Jews of Judea. Josephus has a story that two Jews came to a province in Parthia and usurped the area and made it their own. The King of Parthia two busy to do other things reluctantly agreed to it.

Another version has king Monzabus marrying his sister Helena and having a child with her called izates. in a dream it was determined that he was destined for great things. Monzabus began practicing Judaism or a primitive form of monotheism. When he died Izates took the thrown. At first he did not formally convert due to fear of alienating the populace. Helena and Izates would later on be influenced to do a full conversion. They were noted for their scrupulousness in observance of Miztvot.

The final hope for a homeland was in Russia and it was called the Jewish Autonomous republic. On paper it is still there. In reality not many Jews live there. It was designed to be a buffer state between Russia and China. It never really took off due to antisemitism and primitive living condition. Yiddish was to be it's official language. In Europe at the Time there were three trend regarding the Jewish problem. One was assimilation, another autonomy and the other Zionism. We obviously know who won the day.

Discovery
This is a truly fascinating book. Quite apart from being an excellent piece of scholarly research, it is written in a lively and transparent language, and gives a vivid picture of Jewish people and Jewish states from the ancient times to modernity in so many different parts of the world. I only knew about Khazars and Birobidzhan, but the rest was an exciting discovery. The book also helped to put together all bits and pieces of what I knew about the history of Jewish people and Jewish culture. I grew up in Baku, then in the Soviet Union, with large proportion of Jewish population (the most prominent Jewish natives of Baku being Lev Landau and Mstislav Rostropovich, as well as Garry Weinstein who later changed his name to Kasparov); the common language, of course, was Russian, but as in any large multi-ethnic city, our everyday Russian was interspersed with words from other languages, - primarily Azerbaijani, Armenian and Yiddish. None of my Jewish classmates spoke Yiddish at home, though, and Birobidzhan was sort of a standing joke. All my Jewish friends from Baku are now in Israel or in the USA, and Baku is no longer the place it used to be, for a number of reasons, one of these being the loss of Jewish people and Yiddish culture. Eric Maroney's book made me think again about the fates of peoples, cultures, and languages. I highly recommend this book to those interested in the history of Jewish people and, more generally, in the history of civilization.

A well researched and clearly told story!
This story of Jewish survival, conversions, suppression, attempts at mass destruction, struggles for identity, acquiescence to military and political systems in power, and an indomitable spirit and faith is a wonderful story and reference book; it is well researched and written in a clear and straightforward voice.Facts and stories from ancient times are clearly presented and well documented.Author Maroney has produced a great read.

Lost History
The Other Zions is a superb book. Maroney writes for the well educated, intelligent reader who is interested in the interstices of human history. It accomplishes a number of things. First and foremost it is an informed speculation and discussion about Jewish states other than Israel. I knew of the Khazars and the Jews of Ethiopia, but only in general. I had no idea the other states existed. Because Maroney writes for a general audience he is not afraid to explore where myth and legend merge with history. But don't be mistaken, the scholarship of the book is scrupulous, and the arguments are analytic and clear.
In his introduction he states that the book is meant to be a counter-example to Zionism, which conceives of the Jewish State as the Jewish Homeland, always centered on the land of Israel. Zionism has defined in our time Jewish notions of the state, as well as the opposition to that state. By exploring these other nations of Jews, he reminds us that Jews were practical in their pursuit of security over the years.
I think it serves as a counter-example to another modern assumption, and that is that Jews are a European people who, after 2,000 years of exile, returned to colonize an alien land. The fact is the Jews are an ethnic, linguistic and religious minority in the region (broadly conceived), like the Kurds, Berbers and Armenians, and have been continuously for many thousands of years. Even in the world of the bible, Jews were not confined to the 2 kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Jewish biblical experience stretched from Persia to the Arabian Peninsula and Ethiopia, and to Egypt. The other Zions he describes radiate out from this world.
As in his other work, Religious Syncretism, Maroney takes a known but obscure phenomenon and uses it to broaden what at times can be an idiotic and fruitless modern debate.

Cogent and insightful.
Mr Maroney's exceptionally lucid work sheds light oncomplex topic without ever losing his compelling narrative thread. In a style equal parts even-handed and insightful, he has crafted a work as engrossing as it is informative. ... Read more

Product Description
For nearly six years, the government of Yemen has conducted military operations north of the capital against groups of its citizens known as 'Huthis.' In spite of using all means at its disposal, the government has been unable to subdue the Huthi movement. This book presents an in-depth look at the conflict in all its aspects. The authors detail the various stages of the conflict and map out its possible future trajectories. ... Read more

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This volume of al-T'abari's History has a particularly wide sweep and interest. It provides the most complete and detailed historical source for the Persian empire of the Sasanids, whose four centuries of rule were one of the most glorious periods in Persia's long history. It also gives information on the history of pre-Islamic Arabs of the Mesopotamian desert fringes and eastern Arabia (in al-Hira and the Ghassanid kingdom), and on the quite separate civilization of South Arabia, the Yemen, otherwise known mainly by inscriptions. It furnishes details of the centuries'-long warfare of the two great empires of Western Asia, the Sasanids and the Byzantine Greeks, a titanic struggle which paved the way for the subsequent rise of the new faith of Islam. The volume is thus of great value for scholars, from Byzantinists to Semitists and Iranists. It provides the first English translation of this key section of al-T'abari's work, one for which non-Arabists have hitherto relied on a partial German translation, meritorious for its time but now 120 years old. This new translation is enriched by a detailed commentary which takes into account up-to-date scholarship. ... Read more

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Yemen has recently come to the attention to global strategic planners.This report puts these executives on the fast track.Ten chapters provide: an overview of how to strategically access this important market, a discussion on economic fundamentals, marketing & distribution options, export and direct investment options, and full risk assessments (political, cultural, legal, human resources).Ample statistical benchmarks and comparative graphs are given. ... Read more

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Sheila Carapico's book on civic participation in modern Yemen makes a pathbreaking contribution to the study of political culture in Arabia. The author traces the complexities of Yemen's history over the past fifty years, considering its response to the colonial encounter and to years of civil unrest. Challenging the stereotypical view of conservative Arab Muslim society, she demonstrates how the country is actively seeking to develop the political, economic and social structures of the modern democratic state. This is an important book that promises to become the definitive statement on twentieth-century Yemen. ... Read more