Telltale hearts

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Richard R. Beeman

"In The Varieties of Political Experience in Eighteenth-Century America, Richard R. Beeman offers an overview of political life in pre-Revolutionary America. Ranging from Virginia, Massachusetts, New York, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania to the backcountry regions of the South, the Mid-Atlantic, and northern New England, Beeman reveals an extraordinary diversity of political belief and practice. In doing so, he closes the gap between eighteenth-century political rhetoric and reality." "Political life in eighteenth-century America, Beeman demonstrates, was diffuse and fragmented, with America's British subjects and their leaders often speaking different political dialects altogether. Although the majority of people living in America before the Revolution would not have used the term "democracy," important changes were under way that were making it increasingly difficult for political leaders to ignore "popular pressures." As the author shows in a final chapter on the Revolution, those popular pressures, once unleashed, were difficult to contain and drove the colonies slowly and unevenly toward a democratic form of government. Synthesizing a wide range of primary and secondary sources, Beeman offers an account of the way politics actually worked in this formative time for American political culture."--BOOK JACKET.

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James L. Gelvin

Beginning in December 2010 popular revolt swept through the Middle East, shocking the world and ushering in a period of unprecedented unrest. Protestors took to the streets to demand greater freedom, democracy, human rights, social justice, and regime change. What caused these uprisings? What is their significance? And what are their likely consequences? In a question-and-answer format, this book explores all aspects of the revolutionary protests that have rocked the Middle East. The author, a historian begins with an overview: What sparked the Arab uprisings? Where did the demands for democracy and human rights come from? How appropriate is the phrase "Arab Spring"? before turning to specific countries around the region. He looks at such topics as the role of youth, labor, and religious groups in Tunisia and Egypt and discusses why the military turned against rulers in both countries. Exploring the uprisings in Libya and Yemen, he explains why these two states are considered "weak," why that status is important for understanding the upheavals there, and why outside powers intervened in Libya but not in Yemen. Next, he compares two cases that defied expectations: Algeria, which experts assumed would experience a major upheaval after Egypt's, and Syria, which experts failed to foresee. He then looks at the monarchies of Morocco, Jordan, and the Gulf, exploring the commonalities and differences of protest movements in each. The final chapter discusses the implications of the uprisings. What do they mean for the United States? For Iran? Has al-Qaeda been strengthened or weakened? What effects have the uprisings had on the Israel-Palestine conflict? What conclusions might we draw from the uprisings so far?

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Richard English

This is a comprehensive and scholarly study of socialist republicanism in independent Ireland between the wars. The 1934 Republican Congress movement exemplified the socialist republican stance, holding that 'a Republic of a united Ireland will never be achieved except through a struggle which uproots capitalism on its way'. In this carefully argued study, Richard English demonstrates that the contradictory analysis which characterized the republican left during these years explains its political failure. He explores the mentality which typified republicans during the formative years of independent Ireland, and shows how their solipsistic zealotry was simultaneously self-sustaining and self-defeating. Dr English examines the complex relationship between economics and nationalism in the Irish Free State and the way in which this relationship determined the policies and success of the dominant Fianna Fail party. Radicals and the Republic is an important book which unravels the politics of a significant Irish republican cult and illuminates our reading of the history of independent Ireland.

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Manucher Farmanfarmaian and Roxanne Farmanfarmaian

Born into Iran's most powerful aristocratic family - so feared by Khomeini that the entire clan was blacklisted - Prince Manucher was raised in a vast harem with his thirty-five brothers and sisters, one of whom married the head of Iran's communist party, while another, who was once foreign minister, lost his life to the upstart Shah's jealousy. Farmanfarmaian was the primary government negotiator with the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company until its convulsive nationalization by his cousin Mossedeq in 1951. Later, as a director of the National Iranian Oil Company, he pioneered - against the Shah's wishes - the partnership that resulted in OPEC. This is the first account by one of OPEC's original crafters of the politics and intrigue surrounding the international development of the oil industry. With the flair of a modern-day Arabian Nights, Blood and Oil brilliantly renders the tensions between the excesses of the ancien regime and Iran's increasingly reactionary religious establishment. Prince Manucher's close relationships with everyone from the last Shah to the teary-eyed Mossadeq allow him to provide a fresh portrait of the Pahlavi reign and the revolution that brought it down. But the real revelation in these pages is his new perspective on British oil imperialism, and its brutal effect on twentieth-century history.