This groundbreaking book on modern Palestinian culture goes beyond the usual focal point of the 1948 war to address the earlier, formative years. Drawing on previously unavailable biographies of Palestinians (including Palestinian Jews), Salim Tamari offers eleven vignettes of Palestine's cultural life in the momentous first half of the twentieth century. He brings to light the memoirs, diaries, letters, and other writings of six Jerusalem intellectuals whose lives spanned (and defined) the period of 1918-1948: a musician, a teacher, a former aristocrat, a doctor, a Bolshevik revolutionary, and a Jewish novelist. These essays present an integrated cultural history that illuminates a watershed in the modern social history of the Arab East, the formulation of the Arab Enlightenment.

About the Author
Salim Tamari is Professor of Sociology at Birzeit University, Palestine and Director of the Institute of Jerusalem Studies.

Reviews
"Essay after essay is enriched with arresting descriptions, illuminating anecdotes and intriguing details... An erudite and original contribution to the history of the Middle East and an inspiring and enjoyable piece of scholarship." Times Higher Ed Supp (Thes) "A strong contribution to scholarship on Jerusalem in English." Middle East Journal



Book Information
ISBN 9780520251298
Author Salim Tamari
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint University of California Press
Publisher University of California Press
Weight(grams) 499g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 23mm