Liberal Thought in the Eastern Mediterranean ─ Late 19th Century Until the 1960s

In this well-made volume, Schumann (Middle Eastern studies, U. of Bern, Switzerland) assembles 13 essays that examine liberal thought in the Eastern Mediterranean since the late nineteenth-century, and its influence, addressing important misconceptions. Instead of focusing on the traditional topics such as fundamentalism and terrorism, scholars of history and Middle Eastern studies from the US and Europe challenge the idea that liberalism does not exist in the area's intellectual discourse by looking at the activities of institutions, media, and people, and themes of modernity, reform, progress, individualism, constitutional rule, the rights of marginalized groups, and human civilization and democracy. Essays are based on presentations given at a conference held at the U. of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, in honor of Thomas Philipp, organizer of previous annual conferences on the broad topic of Syrian history. Some papers from the conference will be included in a second volume. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Christoph Schumann, doctorate in political science, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, is Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Bern, Switzerland. His research focuses on political ideologies in the Middle East and Muslims in the West.