San Antonio College Library

A Single "Arab nation" has never existed, not even a thousand years ago, when the Arabs, driven by a rigorous new faith, conquered the Middle East and North Africa. Today, two hundred million Arabs share a language and a variety of historical experiences, the culture of Islam - and a deep-seated uncertainty about their place in a world changing at terrifying speed. In the midst of war, enormous economic disparities, personal and ideological rivalries...

In this program, Bill Moyers and three recognized Arab historians discuss the major historical periods in the Arab world, from its ancient past as a leader in science, mathematics, and literature, through colonization by the French and British, to the present. The Koran is discussed as a constitutional document, and the role of the West in Arab political affairs is analyzed.

An American rabbi and a Palestinian lecturer jointly author this innovative introduction to the Middle-East Conflict. The result is a real insight into both the facts and emotions behind the two sides of the debate, and no issue is avoided, however conflict-ridden. The conclusion is a direct exchange between the two authors, which raises many further issues, but which sees both sides holding out hope for a real solution in the future.

No region in the world today is more important than the Middle East: no people more misunderstood than the Arabs. In this definitive masterwork, distinguished Oxford historian Albert Hourani offers the most lucid, enlightening history ever written on the subject. From the rise of Islam to the Palestinian issue, from the Prophet Mohammed to Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi. A History of the Arab Peoples chronicles the rich spiritual, political, and cultural institutions...

Little is known about Arabia in the sixth century CE. Yet from this distant time and place emerged a faith and an empire that stretched from the Iberian peninsula to India. Today, Muslims account for nearly a quarter of the global population. G.W. Bowersock seeks to illuminate this most obscure and yet most dynamic period in the history of Islam--from the mid-sixth to mid-seventh century--exploring why arid Arabia proved to be such fertile ground...

"Remembering and Imagining Palestine sets out to explore the history of Palestinian nationalism and identity, an identity which stretches back to the time of the Crusades and beyond. In those days it was an identity whose character was more social than political; two of its most significant elements were the community of fear which coalesced around the possible return of the Crusades, and the use of Palestine as the name of the country. The nature...