Publishers Weekly [A]n impressive spread of scholarship...a major contribution in an important field.
About the Author Raphael Patai was the author of over 600 articles and more than twenty books. A native of Hungary, he taught at Princeton, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania. A prolific cultural anthropologist, Dr. Patai died in 1996.
Product Description: The classic study of Arab culture and society is now more relevant than ever. Since its original publication in 1983, the revised edition of Raphael Patai's The Arab Mind has been recognized as one of the seminal works in the field of Middle Eastern studies. This penetrating analysis unlocks the mysteries of Arab society to help us better understand a complex, proud and ancient culture. The Arab Mind discusses the upbringing of a typical Arab boy or girl, the intense concern with honor and courage, the Arabs' tendency toward extremes of behavior, and their ambivalent attitudes toward the West. Chapters are devoted to the influence of Islam, sexual mores, Arab language and Arab art, Bedouin values, Arab nationalism, and the pervasive influence of Westernization. With a new foreword by Norvell B. DeAtkine, Director of Middle East Studies at the JFK Special Warfare Center and School, Fort Bragg, N.C., this book unravels the complexities of Arab traditions and provides authentic revelations of Arab mind and character.
"Is there a recommended books list for FREEPERS anywhere on this site?"
Not that I know of, but that's a great idea. Especially with Christmas coming up. Maybe someone will do a vanity gift suggestion thread. An on-going one for books would be great! Mini-reviews and all.
Soldiers in OIF remarked at how a father could calmly pick up the mangled body of his child and walk home.
The soldiers were told by their interpreter that Arabs do not mourn the way Westerners do, having something to do with and unshakeable faith in the afterlife. Also explains why Muslims are so eager to fight to the death.
Well don't believe everything you read in it.
Here is a review:
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/05/30/misreading_the_arab_mind?mode=PF
I read an old book (published in the 1930's or so) titled "The Gentle Infidel".
It's an account of a family's experiences during the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, focussed on the fall of Constantinople.
The thing that struck me about this book is how little has changed in the muslim world, and our understanding of it since the book was written, or even from the time of the Ottomans.
It's another book for the list, if ever it gets compiled.
However, it's worth noting that Dr. Patai throws every Arab into one large cultural bucket (he notes this early, but it's easy to forgot through the course of the book). As such, it's not the "be all, end all" book on Arabs.
(While I'm on the subject, Dr. Patai's other book: "The Jewish Mind" is not a good book. It may contain a lot of information, but it's as boring as "The Arab Mind" is interesting.)
There is a book titled "Arabs at War" which I think explains Arab military incompetence from a cultural perspective.
This book has often been recommended at Free Republic. "The Haj" by Leon Uris is also good to understand the Arab mind.
I'd love it if we had a book section on FR. When I read a book that has important information, I try to type notes in my Word file for reference.
The Closed Circle: An Interpretation of the Arabs
by David Pryce-Jones
From Publishers Weekly
Following the end of colonial rule in the Middle East, the newly independent Arab nations did not become progressive and free: they are despotic; most persecute religious or ethnic minorities; all oppress women; none has participatory institutions. In a scathing and provocative critique, Pryce-Jones ( Paris in the Third Reich ; Cyril Connolly ) blames these dismal conditions on what he sees as a Muslim reversion to tribal and kinship structures as well as slavish obedience to complex codes of honor and shame that prevent concepts such as open debate, democracy and accountability from taking root. With Islamocentric shortsightedness, Arabs understood Nazism in terms of German revenge for humiliation suffered in World War I. Arab leaders admired both Hitler and Lenin as careerist conspirators who made good. Pryce-Jones sees the same tribal, king-of-the-hill mentality at work today in the Palestine Liberation Organization, a careerist group built around a few audacious personalities who arrogated the right to speak for a whole people.