/r/MiddleEastHistory
/r/MiddleEastHistory is for anything related to Middle Eastern history, from the earliest civilizations of the Fertile Crescent to the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the modern era, along with anything in between! Book and article recommendations, maps, primary sources, pictures, text posts, archaeological findings, paintings, manuscripts, sculptures, architecture-- they're all welcome!
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This subreddit is for anything related to Middle Eastern history, from the earliest civilizations of the Fertile Crescent to the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the modern era, along with anything in between! Book and article recommendations, maps, primary sources, pictures, text posts, archaeological findings, paintings, manuscripts, sculptures, architecture-- they're all welcome!
New to /r/MiddleEastHistory? Please take a moment and consult the rules of this subreddit and read the introduction meta thread.
Rules
Religious intolerance, racism, sexism, homophobia, and general bigoted behavior will not be tolerated (basically, follow reddiquette)
Please try to source your material. It is not required, but if someone asks for a source, you should be able to cite your statements.
Memes, modern politics, non-historical gifs, etc-- keep them in their respective subreddits.
The Official /r/MiddleEastHistory Book List (if you have suggestions for the list, post them here)
Related Subreddits:
/r/MiddleEastHistory
16,840 Subscribers
Review The Farhud, Roots of the Arab-Nazi Alliance in the Holocaust
New book review. The Farhud was an attack upon Baghdad's Jews in 1941. That's not what this book is about however. musingsoniraq.blogspot .com
15:11 UTC
Review A Quest in the Middle East, Gertrude Bell and the Making of Modern Iraq
New book review about Gertrude Bell's personal and political life. musingsoniraq.blogspot .com
15:13 UTC
National Museum of Damascus |جولة في المتحف الوطني
10:07 UTC
Afghanistan is in West(Middle east) and Central Asian
14:43 UTC
Review Operation Babylon, The Story Of The Rescue Of The Jews Of Iraq
Review of book by Mossad agent who smuggled Iraqi Jews out of their country to Israel in the 40s and 50s. musingsoniraq.blogspot .com
15:18 UTC
Looking for book recommendations on Jews living in Arab countries if anyone knows any good ones....could be for any time period.
Thanks!
01:59 UTC
Zagreed!
21:02 UTC
Good books on the Iranian Revolution? (1979)
Have to do a project about it and pretty much have no clue. Was looking for some good, mostly non biased books about it. Generally from an objective perspective.
08:02 UTC
Review Raid On The Sun, Inside Israel’s Secret Campaign That Denied Saddam The Bomb
New book review about Israel's air strike on Iraq's nuclear reactor. musingsoniraq.blospot .com
15:21 UTC
Why were the Parthian and Sassanian dynaties so longlasting (as compared to later Iranian dynasties)?
How did these two pre-Islamic states last so long when most of their post-Islamic counterparts barely made it past their 200th anniversaries?
21:05 UTC
Help
Does anyone know what this means?
18:57 UTC
Atatürk VS Reza Shah coerciveness
Hello everyone!
I have a question, I am reading about early twentieth century modernization in Iran and Turkey in the "revolution from above" style.
It seems that Reza Shah was far more reliant on military to carry out the reforms (I am throwing intelligence, gendarmerie and police under this too) compared to Atatürk, who still very much so used coercion and was reliant on his despotic rule, but had a "golden rule" about demilitarization, when soldiers enter politics. Please, correct me on any of this, I am new to the topic and would love to learn more.
If this is correct can the difference be accounted for by the difference in centralization? Late Ottoman Empire had to centralize to survive, whereas the Qajar hand never reached the provinces. Undoubtedly, there are other structural, not institutional factors, that facilitated Atatürk's reform - earlier attempts at Turk nation-building in the late Ottoman Empire (comparatively to Iran) and greater proximity to Europe (as Europeanization equalled modernization, I imagine that helped).
But I was wondering whether Reza Shah's extensive need in the military for reform implementation can be accounted for by his greater need to first reach the periphery and establish control over it to ensure the later reforms , which was less needed in case of Atatürk. Now that I am typing it, I would also guess during this period Turkey was more homogenous than Iran, which also helps.
12:41 UTC
Review The Iraq War
Early Iraq War book presents many of the Western biases against Islam and Arabs. musingsoniraq.blogspot .com
15:19 UTC
Is Battle of Tours a defining moment in the history of mankind?
I think it's fair to say that if Umayyads had defeated Charles Martell and his Frankish army, Islam would have easily spread and dominated Europe and consequently the world as well. It just feels like the most defining moment in our history because this would have completely changed the whole geopolitics, scientific developments, sports and culture of most of the mankind.
20:52 UTC
The man that conquered the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century & made it Islamic! In context!
19:15 UTC
Review I, Who Did Not Die, A Sweeping Story Of Loss, Redemption, And Fate
New book review. Amazing story of soldiers on opposite sides of the Iran-Iraq War who were captured and brutalized as prisoners of war. musingsoniraq.blogspot .com
15:08 UTC
The Systems that were used to control land in the Middle East! A rough overview!
19:16 UTC
Review Once Upon A Time In Iraq, History of a Modern Tragedy
Book said it wanted to provide Iraqi voices to the US occupation. Read more at: musingsoniraq.blogspot .com
15:14 UTC
Ancient Southern Arabian Civilization from the Stone Age to the Iron Age!
19:16 UTC
Review Expectation of Valor, Planning For The Iraqi War
New review of book that deals with whether the American military planned for postwar Iraq or not. musingsoniraq.blogspot .com
15:19 UTC