Latifa was born into an educated middle-class Afghan family in Kabul in 1980. She dreamed of one day of becoming a journalist, she was interested in fashion, movies and friends. Her father was in the import/export business and her mother was a doctor. Then in September 1996, Taliban soldiers seized power in Kabul. From that moment, Latifa, just 16 years old became a prisoner in her own home. Her school was closed. Her mother was banned from working. The simplest and most basic freedoms - walking down the street, looking out a window - were no longer hers. She was now forced to wear a chadri. My Forbidden Face provides a poignant and highly personal account of life under the Taliban regime. With painful honesty and clarity Latifa describes the way she watched her world falling apart, in the name of a fanatical interpretation of a faith that she could not comprehend. Her voice captures a lost innocence, but also echoes her determination to live in freedom and hope. Earlier this year, Latifa and her parents escaped Afghanistan with the help of a French-based Afghan resistance group.

Enlightenment is not what many think it is, nor is the path to attain it. A. H. Almaas presents myth-shattering aspects of reality that allow true seekers to pass through to a "spiritual reality".

Latifa Unveiled is an engaging memoir that reveals the power of human spirit, one that bridges the gap between East and West, education and ignorance, and the past and future. Readers are taken behind the heavy doors of secrecy and see what life was like for a Pashtun girl growing up in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, who fought for her freedom. In the middle between two cultures and two radically different expectations of womanhood stands Latifa, a feminist before she even knew what that description meant. Her story is one that must be read.PRAISE FOR LATIFA UNVEILED: "Out of all the challenges she has faced, Latifa has found a way to a fulfilled life. She now dedicates her time to building bridges between Muslims, Jews, Christians, and Protestants through her association with the Unitarian Universalist Church and to promoting human rights through her work at the United Nations."-Daisy Khan, Executive Director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement "Latifa Woodhouse is an extraordinary mentor to young women both because of her passionate interest in their lives and dreams, as well as her ability to encourage them through her own life story. This inspirational story is the basis of Latifa Unveiled, the story of a young girl who eagerly seeks education first in her own country, then in the United States as she starts a family and flees from war-torn Afghanistan.-Dr. Terry Neese, Founder, and CEO of the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women"Latifa Woodhouse is a rescuer, a teacher, and a storyteller of the power of devoting your life to helping refugees find a secure home. This book is a beautiful narrative about the courage of the human spirit to overcome oppression and to find a home in a new world."-Artemis Joukowsky, Director Defying the Nazis"Latifa Woodhouse tells the story of her journey across borders, cultures, and faiths with courage and directness. Her voice is strong and committed to the rights of women and refugees. She is a person of deep empathy, dedicated to spiritual insights and communal connections. Latifa loves to bring people together and sharing her story is part of that mission.-Rev. Dr. Natalie Fenimore, Unitarian Universalist Minister at Shelter Rock, Manhasset New York. "Latifa's memoir is an act of bravery and a tender truth. Her internal compass points toward humanity, making her journey an inspiration to follow."-Dr. Nadia Hashimi, Novelist "I met Latifa Woodhouse in Lesbos, Greece where she, her husband Colin, and youngest daughter Alexandra were helping the most vulnerable people on some of the worst days of their lives. I saw first hand their selfless efforts in assisting refugees in any way they could - whether it be by giving them warm clothes, making sure they received medical treatment, shoveling mud to clean up their surroundings or by sharing a simple laugh and warm hug. They were there to share humanity with a group of people who had just experienced some of the most inhumane days, months or even years of their lives. I wanted to know more about Latifa's life and I got that from this book. This is the compelling story of what made a little girl from Kandahar, Afghanistan into the woman Latifa is today."-Atia Abawi, Author of 'A Land of Permanent Goodbyes' and Journalis

Samia is running away from the Egyptian political police with her husband Muhammad and his comrade Rafiq. The story of their escape from prison reflects their whole society.

Building on ethnographic fieldwork and extensive historical evidence, Crying Shame analyzes lament across thousands of years and nearly every continent. Explores the enduring power of lament: expressing grief through crying songs, often in a collective ritual context Draws on the author’s extensive ethnographic fieldwork, and unique long-term engagement and participation in the phenomenon Offers a startling new perspective on the nature of modernity and postmodernity An important addition to growing literature on cultural globalization

" . . . will be of interest not only to those concerned with Pakistan and the new Muslim presence in Europe, but also to those interested in an anthropological study of religion." —Barbara Metcalf, University of California, Davis Pnina Werbner traces the development of a Sufi Naqshbandi order founded by a living saint, Zindapir, whose cult originated in Pakistan and has extended globally to Britain, Europe, the Middle East, and southern Africa. Drawing on 12 years of fieldwork in Pakistan and Great Britain, she elucidates the complex organization of Sufi orders as regional and transnational cults, and examines how such cults are manifested through ritual action and embodied in sacred mythology and global diasporas. A focus of the study is the key event in the order's annual ritual cycle, a celebration in which tens of thousands of people gather at the saint's lodge in Pakistan and in the streets of Britain. Werbner challenges accepted anthropological and sociological truths about Islam and modernity, and reflects on her own role as ethnographic observer. Pilgrims of Love is a major contribution to our understanding of disaporic Islamic practices, highlighting the vitality of Sufi orders in the postcolonial world.

Daughters of Tunis is an innovative ethnography that carefully weaves the words and intimate, personal stories of four Tunisian women and their families with a statistical analysis of women's survival strategies in a rapidly urbanizing, industrializing Muslim nation. Delineating three distinct network strategies, Holmes-Eber demonstrates the "public" role of neighborhoods as informal social security systems, and the impact of women's education, class, and migration on women's resources and networks. An engaging, warm, and oftentimes humorous portrait of Muslim women's responses to development, Daughters of Tunis is an exciting new approach to ethnography: merging the historically disparate methods of both qualitative and quantitative analysis.