Focusing on gender and the family, this erudite and innovative history reconsiders the origins of Egyptian nationalism and the revolution of 1919 by linking social changes in class and household structure to the politics of engagement with British colonial rule. Lisa Pollard deftly argues that the Egyptian state's modernizing projects in the nineteenth century reinforced ideals of monogamy and bourgeois domesticity among Egypt's elite classes and connected those ideals with political and economic success. At the same time, the British used domestic and personal practices such as polygamy, the harem, and the veiling of women to claim that the ruling classes had become corrupt and therefore to legitimize an open-ended tenure for themselves in Egypt. To rid themselves of British rule, bourgeois Egyptian nationalists constructed a familial-political culture that trained new generations of nationalists and used them to demonstrate to the British that it was time for the occupation to end. That culture was put to use in the 1919 Egyptian revolution, in which the reformed, bourgeois family was exhibited as the standard for "modern" Egypt.

SHILOH- a legendary City under a curse. The Lady Latifa of Shiloh committed a crime against Innua, Guardian of the South. Innua punished her, predicting that she would bear twin daughters, destined to destroy each other. The battle that would take place between the daughters would also lead to the destruction of the famed City of Shiloh. Latifa tries to prevent the curse from taking place, and separates the twins at birth, placing them in different lands. Years pass, and the curse is all but forgotten, but destiny intercedes and the twins meet in the City of Shiloh. Zandra, daughter of light, has fallen in love with the Prince and they plan to marry. When Zedra, the dark twin appears, and is determined to destroy this union and gain control of Shiloh. She introduces an old and forgotten practice, Kwa Sutra, which enables her to seduce and control the Prince through his dreams. The battle is intense, and Zedra is winning, when and old friend of Latifa intercedes and offers help to the doomed couple. Shiloh is a story of love and lust, of betrayal and black magic.

Includes reviews of works written in languages of lesser currency, news from PEN Centres, original works, and papers delivered at International PEN congresses.

Understand the complexities of the most lethal insurgent group of America's longest war—the Taliban. Battle hardened, tribally oriented, and deeply committed to its cause, the Taliban has proven itself resourceful, adaptable, and often successful. As such, the Taliban presents a counterinsurgency puzzle for which the United States has yet to identify effective military tactics, information operations, and Coalition developmental policies. Written by one of the Department of the Army's leading intelligence and military analysts on the Taliban, this book covers the group's complete history, including its formation, ideology, and political power, as well as the origins of its current conflict with the United States. The work carefully analyzes the agenda, capabilities, and support base of the Taliban; forecasts the group's likely course of action to retake Afghanistan; and details the Coalition forces' probable counterinsurgency responses. Author Mark Silinsky also reviews the successes and failures of the latest U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine to extrapolate the best strategies for future counterinsurgency campaigns.

Explores the contested role of ‘veiling’ over last 150 years, seen both in terms of oppression and resistance in literature.

In The Promise of Beauty, Mimi Thi Nguyen explores the relationship between the concept of beauty and narratives of crisis and catastrophe. Nguyen conceptualizes beauty, which, she observes, we turn to in emergencies and times of destruction, as a tool to identify and bridge the discrepancy between the world as it is and what it ought to be. Drawing widely from aesthetic and critical theories, Nguyen outlines how beauty—or its lack—points to the conditions that must exist for it to flourish. She notes that an absence of beauty becomes both a political observation and a call to action to transform the conditions of the situation so as to replicate, preserve, or repair beauty. The promise of beauty can then engender a critique of social arrangements and political structures that would set the foundations for its possibility and presence. In this way, Nguyen highlights the role of beauty in inspiring action toward a more just world.

An intimate account of the development of a spiritual tradition and a biography of its creators--told by one of the Diamond Approach cofounders. The Jeweled Path invites you to enter into the story of how the modern spiritual path of the Diamond Approach emerged. With humor and intimacy, Karen Johnson, cofounder with A. H. Almaas, reveals the personal experiences that birthed the teaching and furthered its development. These profound awakenings—occurring amidst ordinary life—became the building blocks of a remarkable new approach to human nature and to our understanding of reality.