Book Reviews

Abstract

99 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XXXV, No.4, Summer 2012 Book Reviews Edited by Nadia Barsoum South Asia, China Turkey and the Middle East A HISTORY OF MYANMAR SINCE ANCIENT TIMES: Traditions and transformations by Michael Aung-Thwin and Maitrii Aung-Thwin, published by Reaktion Books Ltd, London, 2012, pp.325.This book traces the tradition and transformations of Myanmar over nearly three millennia from the relics of its Neolithics civilization to the protests of Buddhist monks in the early twentieth century, the colonial era of the British rule and the republic that followed. ISLAMIC REVIVAL IN NEPAL: Religion and a new Nation by Megan Adamson Sijapati, published 2011 by Routledge, New York, NY, 10017, pp.188. This book examines Nepal’s most influential Islamic organizations for what they reveal about contemporary movements of revival among religious minorities on the margins- both geographic and social-of the so-called Islamic world. SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE IN NAZI GERMANY: Politics, Intelligence and Propaganda 1941-43 by Roman Hays, published by Columbia University Press 2012, New York, NY. Hayes is the first to focus exclusively on Bose’s interaction with Nazi Germany during the Second World War, making extensive use of German, Indian , and British sources, including memoranda, notes, minutes, reports, telegrams, letters and broadcasts. THE ARMENIANS IN THE MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC WORLD: Paradigms of Interaction Seventh to Fourteenth Centuries by Seta B. Dadoyan published by Transaction Publishers, 2011, New Brunswick, NJ, pp.208. The author studies the Armenian experience in the medieval Islamic world and takes the reader through hitherto undiscovered paradigmatic cases of interaction with other populations in the region. 100 A COMMON WORD: Muslims and Christians on Loving God and Neighbor edited by Miroslav Volf, Ghazi bin Muhammad, and Melissa Yarrington , published in 2010 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505, pp.242. This book contains articles by some of the most prominent and leaders in Islam and Christianity today. The first chapter outlines the current crisis in Muslim-Christians relations, the second section addresses the questions of what it means to love God and love one’s neighbor from the Muslim perspective, the next chapter addresses the questions of what it means to love God and love one’s neighbor from the Christian perspective. CUSTOMARY JUSTICE AND THE RULE OF LAW IN WAR –TORN SOCIETIES edited by Deborah Isser, published by United States Institute of Peace Press2011, Washington DC,pp. 386. This volume examines the larger historical, political and social factors that shape the character and role of customary justice systems and their place in the overall justice sector. The author highlights how customary justice systems contribute to, or detract from, stability in the immediate post conflict period and offers an analytical framework for assessing customary justice systems that can be applied in any country. QUATAR: A MODERN HISTORY BY Allen J. Fromherz, published by Georgetown University Press, Washington, DC 2012, pp. 204. This book examines the role that Qatar plays in the Middle East and how does it differ from the other Gulf States. The author focuses on the paradox of Qatar where a monarchy, traditional tribal culture, and conservative Islamic values appear to coexist with ultra modern development and a large population of foreign workers who outnumber Qatari citizens. TERRIFYING MUSLIMS: RACE AND LABOR IN THE SOUTH ASIAN DIASPORA by Junaid Rana, published by Duke University Press, Durham, North Carolina 2012. Pp.229. This project highlights transnational working classes from Pakistan are produces, constructed, and represented in the context of the American empire and the recent global war on terror. A negative moral judgment attaches to migrants who enter the global labor pool through informal economy. The radicalized Muslim is beckoned in the global economy and the demonized in times of crisis. 9.11 TEN YEARS LATER edited by Dr. Lorry M. Fenner, Dr. Mark E. Stout, Ms. Jessica L. Goldings published by John Hopkins University 2011, pp.213,this work is a result of a conference sponsored by John Hopkins University and NDU, National Defense University. The two broad messages from the conference were: first that al-Qaeda and the Sunni Jihadist movement were deeply wounded and vulnerable; and...