Wednesday, December 30, 2009

“Book Reviews - Egypt Today” plus 3 more

“Book Reviews - Egypt Today” plus 3 more

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Book Reviews - Egypt Today

Posted: 30 Dec 2009 01:10 AM PST


The Pyramids and the Sphinx: Art and Archaeology by Corinna Rossi AUC Press 160pp


Egypt's many pyramids and the Great Sphinx are the most widely recognized symbols of Ancient and modern Egypt alike. Mysterious and irresistible to the eye, these massive structures — over eighty of which remain, scattered largely along the west bank of the Nile — evoke the religious system and beliefs of one of the most highly refined and evolved of ancient civilizations.

Even today, we don't entirely understand how they were constructed and what techniques were used, but recent research and excavations have thrown new light on life at the building sites and on the daily existence of generations of designers and craftsmen who dedicated their lives to these immense constructions.

Bursting with full-color photographs and drawings, this beautifully illustrated book serves as a wonderful introduction to these royal monuments. The straightforward text explains the history and significance not only of the famous Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza, but also of the lesser-known tombs that stretch from Saqqara to Meidum and Dashur. The Pyramids and the Sphinx draws on the most recent archaeological findings to lead the reader on a discovery of the most fascinating aspects of Egyptian civilization. Combining majestic aerial shots with close-up photographs of interior artwork and reliefs, this guide is a must-have for anyone with a serious interest in archaeology.

Chant Avedissian: Cairo Stencil EDITed BY Rose Issa Saqi Books 144pp

Chant Avedissian's stenciled monoprints are common sights in Cairo. They decorate the homes of the wealthy and hang on the walls of trendy restaurants and bars. The main themes of his monotypes romanticize the era of his childhood, from the 1950s through the 1970s, celebrating glamour and idealism through portraits of opera singers, starlets, divas and royalty.

This coffee table book gives a wonderful overview of Avedissian's works and life. Rose Issa gives an informative introduction not just to Avedissian's rise to fame, but also to Egypt's self-discovery and transformation after colonial rule.

Each of the nine sections of the book begins with a short explanation of the next theme before turning to his highly colored and captivating images.

Avedissian was born in 1951 in Cairo, the son of Armenian refugees who fled the Turkish incursions of 1915-16. After studying art in Canada and France during the 1970s, Avedissian returned to Egypt, where he fused the techniques, concepts and cosmopolitan experiences acquired abroad with the heritage of his Armenian-Egyptian background to produce striking commentaries on the world around him.

His artistry in works on display in Europe, the United States and Jordan ranges from photography to costume and textile design to painted stencils.

Rainbow: English Castle Magic by Martin Popoff Metal BlADE 230pp

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow is one of those diminished legends that will forever be referred to as "a Deep Purple offshoot," which is of course true, but so disgustingly unfair to the majesty of Blackmore's 'solo' vehicle. Rainbow produced a varied and brilliant catalog of work in its lifetime, and one can only hope that Blackmore sees the light — or at least the dollar signs — and launches a reunion in some fashion. Until such a time, items like this excellent tome keep both interest and nostalgia at the forefront.

Ostensibly a collection of in-depth album reviews buttressed with interview snippets and historical references, Rainbow: English Castle Magic is eminently crafted by Martin Popoff, one of the brightest chroniclers of hard rock. Popoff is obviously a fan, but yields to a pure journalistic desire to tell the whole story, even if it is a bit rough on the objects of his admiration. Not as in-depth or as fully fleshed-out as a proper biography might have been, this work is nonetheless direct and endlessly interesting with so much perspective that Popoff should consider a complete biography project on the subject.

Within its 230 pages you will find a nearly endless array of stories, some untold until now, laid out in chronological order which has the (likely unintended) effect of causing the reader to drop the book and run for the discs on which Popoff is waxing. These albums/CDs/tapes yield much more when spun with a Popoff-inspired fresh ear.

A reference work that I will use for years to come, Rainbow: English Castle Magic is but one in a series of such books by Popoff and I shall be eagerly awaiting the arrival of the next. See www.metalblade.com or www.martinpopoff.com for easiest ordering info.

40 Pyramids of Egypt and their Neighbors Photographs by Sherif Sonbol, Text by Peter Snowdon Cyperus Press 96pp

Rare is the photographer who looks at a familiar art form and shows it in a new light. But Sherif Sonbol's stunning and revelatory photographs [demonstrate] a particularly agile eye, frequently abstracting shapes into dynamic and explosive bursts of color. Even when Mr. Sonbol concentrates on stillness, he exemplifies that a pause is not a pause but 'an act of accomplishment'."

So says Anna Kisselgoff of Egyptian photographer Sherif Sonbol's recent work in a New York Times review, underscoring how rare it is for an Egyptian book to win rave international reviews.

40 Pyramids, Sonbol's latest self-published tome, is a reasonably daring enterprise in a time when the nation seems to be showing disinterest in books of this format. But Sonbol, an established photographer who is probably best known for being his generation's top professional specializing in capturing ballets and other High Art performances on film, plunges on.

Here, though, there is a dramatic shift in interest as he primarily focuses on architecture. Not just any old form of architecture, but the masterpieces of Ancient Egypt surrounded with grandeur and mysticism. Sonbol takes us on an exciting journey to explore the Pyramids of Egypt after splitting them into 10 geographic territories, namely: Giza, Abu Sir, Saqqara, Dashur, Fayoum, Minya, Sohag, Luxor, Edfu and Aswan. Interesting? Sure. But what makes it all special is his decision to twin photos of ancient artifacts with shots of the lives of those who live in those same locations.

Nowhere is Sonbol's artistry more on display than in the chapter on Giza. You may have seen countless photographs of the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, but Sonbol has fresh angles that display the 'agile eye' to which Kisselgoff refers. The images in this chapter include an amazing (if somewhat small) shot of a passageway inside the great pyramid.

The Fayoum chapter boasts an impressive (and unconventional) night shot of the Snoferu Pyramid and, in stark contrast, the famous waterwheels, which are second only to the full-spread image of the great cemetery in the Minya chapter.

That said, Photoshopped images are the only disappointment in the book, of which there are more than a few. The skies, in particular, look oddly artificial on a handful of occasions.

Look out for the soon-to-be-released second history-related installment from this talented photographer on newsstands soon; the subject: palaces.  et

Learn all about antiques at the library - DL-Online

Posted: 30 Dec 2009 04:45 AM PST

Now that the holidays are over, we have time to pursue other interests.

Have you been to a good antiques auction lately? Nowadays you don't even have to leave your home to participate in one. But whichever type you choose, it's important to do your homework before you bid.

Antiques price guides aren't exactly cheap, and become outdated very quickly!

The Detroit Lakes Library can help you with up-to-date information to base your bidding. The Antique Trader and the Antiques & Collecting Magazine (highlighted below) will also provide you with information on upcoming auctions and other collectors and collections.

So come into your library and see what you can find!

n Antique Trader Weekly: Each issue contains articles, columns, and features about antiques and collectibles, a collector Q&A column, serves as a national directory for antique shopping, an antiques show calendar, and an auction calendar.

Book reviews, coverage of industry news and events, and updates including auctions and shows, collector profiles, and dealer profiles.

• Antiques & Collecting Magazine: This magazine brings you the fascinating worlds of architecture, interior design, and fine and decorative arts from the dawn of civilization to the modern era.

Articles on private collections and museum houses around the world highlight the latest trends in collecting and decorating with antiques.

Regular monthly columns include news on current exhibitions and art-world events, notes on collecting, and book reviews.

• Kovels' Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide 2010, by Terry Kovel and Kim Kovel: America's leading authority on antiques and collectibles presents the latest, most up-to-date edition of the biggest and best-organized price guide, with 100 percent, all new, actual prices in 700 categories!

Now in its 42nd edition, Kovels' is the only guide that lists actual prices collected from the previous year's sales.

It is the best illustrated — with 2,500 full-color photographs—most complete, and easiest-to-use guide to finding the value of what every collector, from the casual hobbyist to the antiques professional, owns or discovers.

Kovels' is the only source for the most current, actual prices—no Web site, not even the Kovels' own, has this information.

• Warman's Antiques & Collectibles 2009 Price Guide, by Ellen T. Schroy and edited by Tracy L. Schmidt.

There's more than a kernel of truth to the fact that many things only improve with age. Just like the antiques and collectibles it identifies, the world's longest-running antiques price guide continues to get better with time.

Warman's Antiques & Collectibles 2009 Price Guide boasts a feast of 2,400 color photos, an easy-to-use color-coded catalog format, tens of thousands of detailed listings for furniture, glass, ceramics and toys, a chapter on fakes and reproductions, and exclusive market trend reports written by expert appraisers and collectors.

The Detroit Lakes Library is open Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is closed on Sundays.

For more information on library services and programs, please call 218-847-2168 or visit your library at 1000 Washington Ave.

The Detroit Lakes Library is a branch of Lake Agassiz Regional Library (LARL).

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Student book review: 'Lacrosse Fire Storm' - Democrat and Chronicle

Posted: 30 Dec 2009 02:01 AM PST

Lacrosse Fire Storm

by Matt Christopher

Reviewed by Kaleb Kreuzer, a fifth-grader at Iroquois Middle School in Irondequoit.

Matt Christopher's Lacrosse Fire Storm is a book about a lacrosse player named Gary. He is going away to an overnight lacrosse camp. There is a bully named Michael who also goes to the camp.

At the camp, Michael gives Gary a hard time; so Gary flees into the woods.

Then there's something strange going on. A fire starts exactly where Gary had been earlier in the day!

Who did it? Is Gary responsible for the fire?

The mystery will unfold as you read the book. But when bedtime comes and you lay silent, you are filled with suspense.

I recommend this book because it is a good mystery. You are not sure about the solution until the end.

For more information about Student Book Reviews, call (585) 258-2721 or e-mail Roc-info@DemocratandChronicle.com. Type "Book Review" in the subject field.

Reviews written by students in grades three through eight should be e-mailed or sent to Our Town/Book Review, 55 Exchange Blvd., Rochester, NY 14614.

Please attach a recent photo of the student.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Why 'jihad' went global - Middle East Online

Posted: 30 Dec 2009 06:54 AM PST

 First Published 2009-12-30


 
Why 'jihad' went global

 
Book review of: Fawaz A. Gerges's 'The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global' (Cambridge University Press. N.Y. 2009).

 
By Jim Miles - VERNON

First published in 2005, this text still stands the test of time for the theses that it presented then. In this new edition, Fawaz Gerges writes hopefully and expectantly that the new US President, Barak Obama, can overcome the mistakes he sees that the US has made in its "war on terror." His hopes will obviously have dimmed somewhat if not greatly in consideration of Obama's actions in the Middle East, but Gerges' essential thematic message remains important.

Two main themes underlie the ideas in the book. The first tells of the relationship between bin Laden and Zawahiri and how their ideas interacted and reacted to turn the jihadis from the 'near' enemy - the local regional governments - to the 'far' enemy - the United States. The second theme is the poor manner in which the US has understood essential differences between 'near' and 'far' jihadis, the history of their development, and the major divisions within the jihadi proponents. Following from the latter theme, a missing context of Gerges arguments concerning US actions in the Middle East is readily discerned.

Bin Laden and Zawahiri

Osama bin Laden is the iconic anti-hero of the al-Queda movement, shooting to prominence in the western media with the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Still at large presumably somewhere in the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region, bin Laden remains the iconic reviled evil of the Muslim world. Although active before 9/11 it was this singular act that brought him to global media attention. Considered to be the mastermind behind the attacks and all other atrocities designated to be by al-Queda, Gerges' arguments present the al-Queda top echelon to be structured as much by Ayman al- Zawahiri, a prominent Egyptian jihadi gone global.

Zawahiri's initial jihadi interests were with the near enemy, in his case, Egypt. Gerges credits Zawhiri with turning bin Laden towards using tactics that he had used in his 'near' campaign towards the 'far' enemy, the US These tactics consisted of the violent suicide attacks and attacks against civilians which Gerges argues were not originally within bin Laden's repertoire. bin Laden had previously chosen mainly political and military targets for his war on the far enemy.

Conversely, Zawahiri had originally focussed his attention on the elite of Egypt and had not thought much about global jihad. Influenced by bin Laden, for lack of financial support elsewhere, as well as the lack of success of the near jihad in Egypt, Zawahiri turned to bin Laden for support. From his experience with his near jihad in Egypt, Zawahiri "brought vast operational, political, and conceptual skills to his alliance with bin Laden."

In sum Zawahiri turned from the near to the far enemy, from Muslim apostates to the US and its allies in the west. bin Laden, turned from targeting the military and elite to utilizing Zawahiri's organizational skills and tactics of suicide attacks and attacks against civilians. The combination led to 9/11.

Pivot points

Gerges discusses several pivotal moments within the jihadi movements. Afghanistan's resistance to Soviet intervention was the first point. At the time, it was seen as a 'near' jihad, to rid Muslim land of an occupier, the "[irredentist] jihadis possess no political ambition to wage jihad against either their own government or Western nations." The consensus at the time "among Muslim clerics and scholars" was that "jihad against the Russian invaders was legitimate (defensive) and could be considered a "collective" duty." Gerges argues that "while united to fight the common enemy…, they disagreed on almost everything else, including politics and religion."

It is frequently reiterated and supported that "jihadis lacked unity and possessed separate local identities and differing goals," that they were "ripe with internal strife and rivalry….prone to infighting and power struggles." It was within this intense internecine strife that bin Laden and Zawahiri forged their relationship and turned it toward the far enemy in a violent manner.

The next pivot point is the 9/11 attack, which was far from being as successful as bin Laden and Zawahiri had anticipated. They expected that by attacking the US it "would bring estranged jihadis back into the fold as well as mobilize the ummah against pre-Western Muslim rulers and their superpower patron - the United States." Instead, "the core of the jihadis' critique is a direct assault on what the religious nationalists view as the shortsightedness and colossal miscalculations of bin Laden and Zawahiri." Although guests of the Taliban, bin Laden was highly criticized for bringing the US and all its military power into Afghanistan and, as argued in other works, the Taliban, had they been approached correctly by the US, could very well have handed bin Laden over to international authorities, or revealed to the same where he was working from.

The third pivot point is Iraq. Before the US invaded Iraq in 2003, the jihadi movement according to Gerges had essentially torn itself apart, with very few actual al-Queda members remaining from the onslaught of US power, a resurgence of local nationalist power, and scorching critiques of al-Queda by Arab and Muslim writers and scholars where "the dominant commentary …is an utter rejection of bin Ladenism and a consistent plea for rationality and cultural engagement.". The contrived invasion of Iraq momentarily gave new life to al-Queda as a possible center in which to renew its 'far' jihad.

From this low point, the Iraqi invasion "has turned into a recruiting device against perceived American imperial policies; it has radicalized both mainstream and militant Arab and Muslim public opinion." The conflict in Iraq, "a baptism of blood and fire, coupled with socialization with hard-core jihadis, will make them vulnerable to militancy."

Purposeful errors - US foreign policy

Throughout these arguments the US is seen as not understanding the many divisions and splits within the jihadi movements. These divisions are at the core of Gerges' arguments and represent a good portion of the text. There was/is in the US according to Gerges a "catastrophic analytic failure" to understand the jihadi movement and the strengths and powers of the various players within it. He argues correctly that "al-Aqueda represents more of a national security problem…than a strategic threat," with the national security problem being downgraded to a "security nuisance" later in the work. The implication is that the US military actions in the Middle East are a huge over-reaction to the reality of the strengths of al-Queda, the national jihadis, and the resurgent Taliban insurgency against a now occupying power. He suggests that assisting local governments and utilizing legal international support rather than using military occupation is sufficient to harness and stop the havoc created by a small group of violent actors.

And of course it is a huge over-reaction, but the context that Gerges misses, or chooses to ignore, is that part of this is for the media at home to present to the consuming public at home, a public which is generally ignorant about foreign cultures and beliefs. The context that needs to be presented is that of the US imperial interests in controlling the resources of the area (mainly oil and natural gas, but other minerals as well), and in containing the actions of China and Russia within the same region.

Gerges argues that the US "has assigned too much importance to the terrorists and has unwittingly invested bin Laden and Zawhiri with the legitimacy and stature that they desperately craved." This propaganda victory for al-Queda is seen as "suspect by those unable to believe that the American government could be so naïve." In truth, it is far from naïve: the "war on terror" is what is fed to the people at home by the corporate media, a story that inculcates into the public the idea that their very way of life is threatened by the hundred or so remaining al-Queda fighters in Afghanistan and now on into Pakistan. Without that fear factor, without the evil other, the reality of the US killing civilians and destroying cultural and physical landscapes to control resources and other geopolitical forces might not be so convincing an argument to continue with the violence and atrocities against international law that the US commits daily in the Middle East.

As for Obama, one year into his presidency, one year after the 2009 writing date of Gerges revision, there is little hope for a change of tactic, as the US surges anew into the region and is being highly disruptive of the whole Pakistani arena of affairs. Obama has inherited Bush's war, made it his own, and continues the rhetoric about terrorists without discussing the essence of the reason for attacking and occupying the Middle East - for its own geopolitical advantage and to support the Israeli state.

Israel and Palestine

Israel and Palestine do not pay a major role in this text, nor hardly even a minor role. But they are mentioned infrequently, with Israel being identified as being the US's sidekick in the Middle East. When Palestine is mentioned it is considered as not prominent on the jihadi agenda, yet "the Palestinian tragedy continues to inspire young activists and fuel their rage. I [Gerges] have not met an Islamist or jihadi who does not mention Palestine as an example of Western injustices inflicted on Muslims." While Palestinians may not be important to Zawahiri and bin Laden, "many of their foot soldiers and operatives have been moved and influenced by it." In his final summarizing comments, Gerges sees US policy as failing to understand the divisions mentioned above - and conversely which he fails to see as a purposeful ignorance - and the "legitimate grievances of many Muslims - foremost the simmering regional conflicts in Palestine, Iraq, and Kashmir."

Regardless of Gerges lack of insight into the geopolitical motives for the US to continue its "war on terror", The Far Enemy provides good insights into the jihadi movements and their fractiousness and relative weakness on the global stage.

Jim Miles is a Canadian educator and a regular contributor/columnist of pinion pieces and book reviews. Miles' work is presented globally through other alternative websites and news publications.
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