Ottoman Empire

I am a little weak on Eastern European history as it relates to the Ottomans. Therefore, a new book by Andrew Wheatcroft titled The Enemy of the Gate: Habsburgs, Ottomans and the Battle for Europe might be helpful. It's reviewed in this week's (6/14) New York Times book section by Eric Ormsby.

Ormsby's problem with it is that it's very Euro-centric, describing the Ottomans as fierce warriors (and thereby perpetuating certain stereotypes). Yet the basic outline of history would still be useful.

miscellany from recent reading

Here are some possibilities for various teaching projects:

1.Alex MacLean, Over: the American Landscape at the Tipping Point (Abrams). Aerial photos on the (destruction of the) American landscape.

2.Michael A. Wolf. The Zoning of America: Euclid v. Ambler. UP of Kansas. Good if I ever get to teach planning law. (Not that I really need a primer on Euclid v. Ambler, which I read every time I teach a short segment on planning law.)

3. Michael Porter. On Competition (Harvard Biz Press). I'm attracted by the description of it as brisk outline of his principles, followed by some real-world applications.

more from the Muslim world

I have just begun Children of Jihad by Jared Cohen. So far, I am not impressed. I googled for reviews and was surprised to find none with the kinds of issues I'm having with the book, but then again, they were mostly from publishers sites, so naturally they would accentuate the positive.

To be fair, I will revisit this comment (and revise as necessary) with more specifics when I have finished reading it.

Islamophobia?

Juan Cole's Engaging the Muslim World was reviewed in the May 10, 2009 New York Times book review section. From the review it seems that his main point is that those (by which we might infer the Bush 2 Administration) who lump all Muslim organizations together as a united force err on two counts:
1) it confers on them collectively a power (driven by our fears) they do not have and which we should not ascribe to them; and
2) it ignores the substantial differences (and enmities) between them.

Obviously these have major implications for US foreign policy.

On a related note, I am reading Reading Lolita in Tehran right now. It's horrifying and I do not enjoy it although I do appreciate it. But understanding what is going on culturally or ideologically in the Middle East is crucial to the understanding I hope to help my students to build of this region.