Paul Tchir (Author of Beyond Time and Space)

Paul rated a book liked it The Elusive Peace: The Middle East in the Twentieth Century by William R. Polk	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The Elusive Peace, published in 1979, presents a history of the Middle East that is very much a product of its time. Coming out just a year after Edward Said’s seminal work Orientalism, it represents the classic model of the Middle East as a problem ...more
Aug 10, 2025 04:24PM · like · see review
Paul rated a book liked it Harem Years: The Memoirs of an Egyptian Feminist, 1879-1924 by Huda Shaarawi هدى شعراوي	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Harem Years, translated and edited by Margot Badran, has a clear goal, but goes about achieving it in an arguably unorthodox way. Its principal objective is to translate the memoirs of Egyptian feminist Huda Shaarawi to give readers a rare glimpse in ...more
Jul 16, 2025 11:47PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Harem Years by Huda Shaarawi هدى شعراوي. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Harem Years by Huda Shaarawi هدى شعراوي <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Paul rated a book really liked it Qatar and the 2022 FIFA World Cup: Politics, Controversy, Change by Paul Michael Brannagan	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Qatar and the 2022 FIFA World Cup was published the same year as its eponymous event, but before the Cup was actually held. As such, it does not serve as a retrospective of the games, but as a summary of the discourse surrounding them before they wer ...more
Jul 08, 2025 07:29PM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Qatar and the 2022 FIFA World Cup by Paul Michael Brannagan. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Qatar and the 2022 FIFA World Cup by Paul Michael Brannagan <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Paul rated a book it was ok Sport in Egypt by James Wentworth Day	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sport in Egypt might seem to be an odd choice to review, since it is essentially a primary source about “sport” in Egypt during the interwar period and is unlikely to be of general reading interest today. In fact, the very title is a hint that the wo ...more
Jun 20, 2025 02:58PM · like · see review
Paul rated a book did not like it Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan: Photostory by Richard J. Anobile	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Would have been a cute little novelty had a good chunk of the pages in the middle not been out of order.
Jun 11, 2025 10:00AM · like · see review
Paul rated a book it was amazing The Decline of Arab Unity: The Rise and Fall of the United Arab Republic by Elie Podeh	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The Decline of Arab Unity by Elie Podeh is a somewhat older (by academic standards), but widely-cited work on the history of the United Arab Republic (UAR), a three-year political and economic union between Egypt and Syria. The UAR is often relegated ...more
May 27, 2025 10:42PM · 2 likes · like · see review
Paul rated a book really liked it García Márquez for Beginners by Mariana Solanet	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 19, 2025 11:03AM · like
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Paul rated a book it was amazing Smoked Beers: History, Brewing Techniques, Recipes (Classic Beer Style Series, 18.) by Geoff Larson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
It might seem odd to bother reviewing a book like Smoked Beers, which was published in 2000 and thus contains a fair share of outdated material. For example, many of the breweries mentioned no longer exist or are no longer producing their smoked beer ...more
Jan 16, 2025 04:00PM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Smoked Beers by Geoff Larson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Smoked Beers by Geoff Larson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Paul rated a book really liked it Making It So by Patrick Stewart	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The first matter to raise about Patrick Stewart’s autobiography Making It So is that, despite the title, there is only limited discussion of what the actor is best known for: Star Trek. For me, this was not a problem, as his role in that show has bee ...more
Jan 05, 2025 02:56PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Making It So by Patrick Stewart. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Making It So by Patrick Stewart <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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The Elusive Peace: The Middle East in the Twentieth Century
by William R. Polk

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The Elusive Peace, published in 1979, presents a history of the Middle East that is very much a product of its time. Coming out just a year after Edward Said’s seminal work Orientalism, it represents the classic model of the Middle East as a problem The Elusive Peace, published in 1979, presents a history of the Middle East that is very much a product of its time. Coming out just a year after Edward Said’s seminal work Orientalism, it represents the classic model of the Middle East as a problem needing to be solved and a product of political and economic factors, with only limited attention paid to social history. With that said, as a work published with a classroom audience in mind, its objective was to provide context for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the uninitiated. Keeping that in mind is an important part of understanding the book’s value, as is placing its author in the context of his role as a political consultant and civil servant who was personally involved in the diplomacy surrounding conflicts in the Middle East.

The book begins with a brief introduction that outlines foundations, including his goal of educating people about the conflict from the perspective of an involved party. The remainder is divided into three parts, albeit with only the first two being substantial and the third serving as more of an extended conclusion. Part One is directed towards providing an understanding of the Middle East as a whole, beginning with a chapter on the importance of “memory” until the age of nationalism. Here, he emphasizes the role of the Jewish and Muslim religions in the pre-modern Middle East. Despite approaching the subject from a more traditional perspective, he presents a relatively more positive and balanced perspective of Arabs and Muslims than many of his contemporaries.

Chapter two concerns the rise of nationalism, and tracks how memory and religion were negotiated with new conceptions of the nation. Here Polk focuses on Zionism and Arab nationalism, and how imperial machinations put the two at odds during World War I. They were on the opposite ends of chapter three’s subject, “The Struggle for Independence”, and not only contested for the same pieces of land, but had to maneuver around the hegemonic interests of the great powers. The fourth chapter, “The Growth of Capacity”, examines this struggle from an economic perspective to balance out the political focus of previous sections.

Part Two picks up with Israel and the Zionist movement having come out on top at the same time that new powers – the United States and the Soviet Union – came to dominate global politics after World War II. The Cold War brought new dynamics and interests that further complicated the situation, with the conflict over capitalism and socialism turning Israeli and Arab interests into tools that could be played against each other. In chapter six, the author acknowledges that the conflict was only “cold” in the United States and the USSR, and that the Middle East was a key physical battlefield for the conflict to play out. He places Israel, Palestine, and Egypt in particular into this context and shows how regional nationalisms became exploitable in the broader global conflict.

Chapter seven brings in Polk’s personal intervention as he explores the role of American democracy in resolving the conflict. Here his writing starts to become less historical and more pragmatic as his objective of using history as a tool to solve the contemporary conflict moves to the foreground. His eighth chapter takes a brief look at the role of Lebanon in the regional conflict, but is more hopeful about the Civil War’s resolution than the reality that came to be. Chapter nine looks at the relationship between Begin and Sadat, but is again more optimistic than the circumstances played out, as he could not predict Sadat’s assassination a few years later and the loss of Sadat’s potential in ending the conflict.

The final part, consisting of two chapters, looks forward from these historical ideas, beginning with “Potential for the Future”. Here, Polk takes a realistic survey of the economic resources of the Middle East and comments on how he feels they will impact political developments. The eleventh chapter, his official conclusion, does not summarize what was written previously, but attempts to answer three questions, one of which is about prospects for peace and two of which are about the role of the Middle East’s energy recourses in the global economy. His response to the first issue is that peace is possible, but that it will require shifts in mentalities from both sides and the acknowledgement that the alternative (i.e. violence) is less preferable. As to the second, particularity relevant given the oil crises of the 1970s, his argument is that the United States needs to find alternative sources of energy but, given the low likelihood of this happening in the near future, argues that this will give the Middle East more leverage in resolving regional conflicts.

Overall, The Elusive Peace accomplishes what it sets out to do: contextualize the contemporary regional conflict through a historical lens of politics and economics. Without delving too deeply into the social context, however, it is only able to paint a partial picture and, within a few years, developments, some predictable and some not, made his analysis and conclusions obsolete. Thus, while I would not say that there is anything particularly “wrong” about this work, as its scope was always limited, there is ultimately not much value in it for either scholars or casual readers, as the conflict has been covered much better (and with updated information) in the many decades since. ...more

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Harem Years: The Memoirs of an Egyptian Feminist, 1879-1924
by Huda Shaarawi هدى شعراوي

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Harem Years, translated and edited by Margot Badran, has a clear goal, but goes about achieving it in an arguably unorthodox way. Its principal objective is to translate the memoirs of Egyptian feminist Huda Shaarawi to give readers a rare glimpse in Harem Years, translated and edited by Margot Badran, has a clear goal, but goes about achieving it in an arguably unorthodox way. Its principal objective is to translate the memoirs of Egyptian feminist Huda Shaarawi to give readers a rare glimpse into the private world of upper-class Egyptian Muslim women’s lives at the turn of the twentieth century. What complicates the project is that Shaarawi did not write a cohesive, chronological narrative, but instead produced memoirs in the form of a collection of ideas and thoughts. As such, a direct translation would have left them difficult to follow, even with the proper context, and thus Badran takes the texts and exercises her editorial judgment by organizing the content and leaving out repetitive or confusing elements. The remainder of the material relates to Badran’s goal of showing what life was like in the private sphere of women such as Shaarawi, and how that might have influenced the subject’s later forays into feminism. This book, therefore, should be approached as a curated primary source with a defined objective, rather than a raw translation that leaves itself open to anyone’s interpretation.

The translator’s introduction provides the necessary context for the text and is accessible in a way that caters to scholars and casual readers alike. It provides sufficient detail for those unfamiliar with Egypt and its early feminist movement to understand Shaarawi’s memoirs, but does not go into excessive detail. Following this are four sections organized chronologically, but also by theme. The first, “Family,” is only 10 pages and introduces her closest relatives, who will play important roles in the rest of the narrative.

The second section, “Childhood in the Harem”, is where the recollections begin to reveal the hidden parts of the upper-class sphere and what life was like. As one might expect, it focuses heavily on her family life, including her childhood betrothal and marriage, but also highlights private cultural elements of the book’s eponymous “harem” life. Her relationship to her husband at this stage is not overly fleshed out, but there is enough to lead us to the third part, “A Separate Life”, which chronicles her years apart from her husband. Here, the narrative focuses less on the general cultural sphere and more on the influences and circumstances that led Sharaawi to become involved in feminism.

In the fourth section, Sharaawi returns to her husband and the reader is brought back to the private life of the “harem”. We do get some recollections about further influences to her feminism, but the translated portion concludes with the end of World War I, and thus most of her engagement with nationalism is left out. Instead, Badran provides an epilogue that offers snippets of Sharaawi’s fragmented memoirs about the period from 1919 through 1924. This chapter provides an account of Sharaawi’s involvement in the nationalist movement, peppered with just enough historical context to make the story cohesive.

One concern with this translation is, because it is curated, it is difficult to analyze the meaning behind what is omitted from the text, as it is not clear if parts are not present due to editorial oversight. For example, are some of the details about her marriage missing because she chose not to write about them, or because Badran decided that they should not be included? Some footnotes on omissions might have been useful. Thus, while Harem Years provides interesting insight into the culture of this era, particularly for more casual readers, it is could be limiting for academic study. It also does not contain much material about the main thrust of her feminist activities, which admittedly are well-covered in other sources and largely absent from the original memoirs. Regardless of any shortcomings, however, Shaarawi’s memoirs themselves would be difficult, if not impossible, to access in their unedited form, and thus Badran’s work allows the reader a better look into Shaarawi’s life than we might otherwise be privileged to experience. ...more

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Qatar and the 2022 FIFA World Cup by Paul Michael Brannagan

Qatar and the 2022 FIFA World Cup: Politics, Controversy, Change
by Paul Michael Brannagan

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Qatar and the 2022 FIFA World Cup was published the same year as its eponymous event, but before the Cup was actually held. As such, it does not serve as a retrospective of the games, but as a summary of the discourse surrounding them before they wer Qatar and the 2022 FIFA World Cup was published the same year as its eponymous event, but before the Cup was actually held. As such, it does not serve as a retrospective of the games, but as a summary of the discourse surrounding them before they were held, although it does also look forward to suggest directions that Qatar could go after its hosting. Thus this book was meant to be something for academics to read before the World Cup to help direct their analyses and contextualize what they were seeing. This does not mean that it contains no value for the reader three years on, as its collection of resources and ideas remain valuable, particularly its desire to place popular criticism of the venue into the context of scholarly analysis while still remaining more-or-less accessible to non-specialist readers. It is, however, important for potential readers to understand the limitations of what the text attempts to accomplish.

For a modern academic work, the book is relatively short, consisting of an introduction and four additional chapters. The introduction provides context on Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup and highlights how popular publications have identified several controversies with Qatar earning the rights, including its lack of a true football culture, accusations of bribery, and human rights complaints about working conditions. These problems contrast Qatar’s broader objectives, which is to use the hosting of the World Cup to enhance its international image. The introduction then sets out its theoretical framework, which is not overly dense by academic standards but might bog down a more casual reader, and then outlines the structure of the remainder of the book.

The authors’ second chapter focuses on the historical background and is fairly straightforward, giving the reader context on how the nation of Qatar emerged and what it is seeking from a global perspective. Essentially, Qatar’s goals are to establish a role for itself in international affairs to ensure its security against its neighbors and to have “an independent foreign policy” that does not always align with the rest of the Gulf region. Chapter three looks at how the nation attempts to accomplish this through sport, engaging the conception of “soft power”, or using cultural products to grow one’s influence rather than the “hard power” of military might. It then narrows to the case of Qatar and how its hosting of the 2022 World Cup fits into this scheme, and what benefits it might obtain from doing so.

Having explored the positive potential of soft power, the authors change direction in chapter four to examine its potential pitfalls. In the case of Qatar, they highlight the new global scrutiny it experienced following the hosting announcement. The authors highlight the three “controversies” from the introduction that were amplified by global media: human rights, corruption, and the nation’s unsuitability to host a major sporting event. While these concerns are not downplayed, the authors do note that this criticism has resulted in Qatar addressing some of the issues, most notably improving the human rights situation, and thus the backlash has had some positive outcomes for the country. Nonetheless, at least in the leadup to the World Cup, this has not changed the hegemonic media narrative.

The final chapter explores what the authors feel will happen with Qatar once it hosts the Games and, to avoid speculation, proposes three considerations for the nation that will help it benefit from hosting: running the event successfully, maintaining its historically independent foreign policy, and continuing domestic reforms. While the study cannot be predictive, it highlights these paths as lenses through which the event can be studied once it is held to gauge its efficacy as a soft power tool. Overall, this is the purpose of Qatar and the 2022 World Cup and where it is most successful: establishing foundations for academic engagement with its eponymous subject. As such, it remains a handy reference for those interested in the event in the aftermath. It does seems at times like it was rushing to be published, and this can make it feel as if there are oversights and oversimplifications, but scholars interested in related topics will likely find it accessible and useful, even if it has been surpassed by other publications as intended. ...more

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Sport in Egypt
by James Wentworth Day

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Sport in Egypt might seem to be an odd choice to review, since it is essentially a primary source about “sport” in Egypt during the interwar period and is unlikely to be of general reading interest today. In fact, the very title is a hint that the wo Sport in Egypt might seem to be an odd choice to review, since it is essentially a primary source about “sport” in Egypt during the interwar period and is unlikely to be of general reading interest today. In fact, the very title is a hint that the work was outdated at its publication, because it contextualizes “sport” primarily in the classic sense as hunting and horse racing, rather than the more organized athletic pursuits that the term refers to today. The final chapter does allude to the modern definition somewhat by looking at activities in Cairo, but refers to them, perhaps dismissively, as “Games”. When picking up this book, I was aware that it was referring to “sport” in this more traditional sense, but assumed that it was published 30 or more years earlier than its actual date (1938). As such, I believe that it is worth providing a quick review of its contents, in case any researcher might be interested in it as a historical reference, as outside of this, it holds little value to the modern reader.

Although Wentworth Day is credited as the compiler, he provides only three of the fifteen chapters of the volume. The first two are written by Mohammed Ali Tewfik of the Egyptian royal family, which gives the book some prestige, but also makes it feel slightly nationalist in tone. Nonetheless, Ali Tewfik was a recognized expert on his subject, the Arabian horse, and thus his knowledge is nicely summarized in these first twenty pages. A Miralai Henn Bey then narrates the experience of shooting birds on a lake, followed by a trip in the opposite environmental direction as the well-known police officer Russell Pasha covers shooting in the desert.

Next is the first chapter by Wentworth Day and, as such, is the longest by a small margin as he recounts a bird-shooting expedition to Lake Qarun. More bird shooting, this time reviewed by Russell Pasha, follows, and a transliterated English to Arabic guide for hunting is included. This section contains phrases that he felt that one could use, which cover the spectrum from “Have you anything to eat?” to “Shut up, you son of sixty donkeys.” A handful of these phrases seem out of place, as they would require responses that one would not understand if they needed this guide because they did not speak Arabic. The next four chapters, two each by Wentworth Day and Emanuel Maratos, once again share anecdotes and tips about bird hunting. Then come two chapters on fishing, one by C. S. Jarvis and the other by a Mrs. John Bowen, the latter providing a rare glimpse into Egyptian “sport” from the perspective of a woman. Paul Curling then provides a brief look at sailing on the Nile.

As mentioned in the first paragraph, the final chapter discusses entertainments in Cairo, some aligning with the modern definition of “sport” and others not sporty at all, under the rubric of “Games and Gaieties”. Overall, Sport in Egypt seems outdated even for its time period and on occasion feels to be more of a tourist brochure, hoping to lure out older Britons who remembered the Egypt of stricter British prewar control. As such, the writing is rife with Orientalist stereotypes, a sense of colonial superiority, and subtle (and not-so-subtle) racist commentary. Yet even as an example of this type of mentality, it is not particularly exceptional, and not representative of the nature of the British occupation at the time it was published. As a primary source, therefore, it will likely be of only limited use to even field specialists. ...more

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Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan: Photostory
by Richard J. Anobile

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Would have been a cute little novelty had a good chunk of the pages in the middle not been out of order.

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The Decline of Arab Unity: The Rise and Fall of the United Arab Republic
by Elie Podeh

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The Decline of Arab Unity by Elie Podeh is a somewhat older (by academic standards), but widely-cited work on the history of the United Arab Republic (UAR), a three-year political and economic union between Egypt and Syria. The UAR is often relegated The Decline of Arab Unity by Elie Podeh is a somewhat older (by academic standards), but widely-cited work on the history of the United Arab Republic (UAR), a three-year political and economic union between Egypt and Syria. The UAR is often relegated to a footnote in broader studies of the history of both regions, and waved off as a failed and doomed experiment, but the author attempts to treat to explore the union with more depth. While he does not reject the idea that it was doomed, he does apply more nuance on why this was the case and, rather than dismissing it outright, takes time to highlight all of the specific points of that failure.

Podeh’s introduction is fairly straightforward for an academic text, consisting primarily of a summary of the previous literature on the topic, along with a quick review of his sources. This section does more to highlight the structure of his analysis than elucidate a particular thesis, but this is a product of his overall goal of better understanding the UAR instead of making a singular argument. Also notable is his emphasis on diplomatic sources; with no meaningful access to Egyptian and Syrian archives at the time, his Arabic sources consist primarily of publicly-available material such as newspapers, which he acknowledges throughout the text as a factor that limits his ability to provide the Arab perspective. The first official chapter could also be considered an introductory one of sorts, as he takes time to define his main unit of analysis: elite politics. This is the closest he gets to a singular thesis, as he argues that elite politics are an important factor in both the creation and dissolution of the union.

Chapter two begins his primary narrative of the UAR and argues for a Syrian belief that a union with Egypt might resolve some of the country’s internal turmoil as driving the creation of the union. As a newly-forged nation seeking its identity, many believed that latching onto Egypt’s ideological stability, and particularly its Pan-Arabism in the aftermath of the Suez Crisis, would help bring Syrians together. Podeh highlights Nasser’s reluctance – and the indifference of the average Egyptian – towards such a union, but also his inability to truly reject the idea, as he was using Pan-Arabism to support his legitimacy as a regional leader. His hand was essentially forced and, in February 1958, the union was declared. In the third chapter, the author explores the political foundations of this union and its relative success in instituting significant changes that most in Syria welcomed as pillars of stability.

In chapter four, Podeh begins to explore what he feels is a key factor in the dissolution of the union: economic integration. His overarching theme is that Nasser was rushed into copying changes that had been successful in Egypt, but were inappropriate for Syria. Coupled with a long-term drought, the author’s economic narrative is one of a consistent failure to integrate and an increasing alienation of the elites that had pushed for the establishment of the union. While many of the changes might have benefitted a new power base, such as the working class, their haphazard implementation prevented Nasser from truly growing his support in Syria. This theme continues into the fifth chapter, which also emphasizes how Nasser’s political transformations came to be seen increasingly as Egyptian dominance in Syria, rather than an attempt at equal union. Failures in economic integration and the frustration of the elites contributed to this perception.

By chapter six, Podeh argues that the decline of the UAR was beyond the point of no return. In order to combat growing dissent, Nasser had to tighten his political control, which in turn led to more complaints of Egyptian dominance. Also key here is the failure to create a cultural identity that was specific to the UAR, with most citizens considering themselves Egyptian or Syrian. This cultural factor is touched upon only slightly in the book, perhaps due to the lack of availability of Arabic-language sources and the fact that it was not a subject touched upon often by diplomatic archives. The seventh chapter continues an investigation into this topic from the economic perspective, highlight the continuing failures in that sphere.

Chapter eight focuses on the end result: Syrian’s secession. It provides a narrative of the collapse and argues that the average person was either supportive of dissolution or indifferent. Over the course of three years, the failures of the union overrode the limited philosophical enthusiasm for the project. The ninth chapter builds upon this, arguing that internal developments in Syria meant that Arab unity was no longer viable in addressing the political situation, as the factors that made the project attractive in the first place had dissipated. With the union’s failure to build enthusiasm for Pan-Arab unity in an era of nation-states, there was no hope for the emergence of a similar project in the future, even if Nasser used such rhetoric to maintain his legitimacy at home and abroad.

In his concluding chapter, Podeh maintains the narrative that the union was relatively doomed from the start, but offers more nuance to this argument by providing a detailed list of the problems, rather than simply painting it as a failure of the idea of Pan-Arabism as a whole. The overarching theme is that the union was created to address internal Syrian problems, rather than on the basis of a philosophical and popular belief in Arab unity. Nasser recognized the potential problems of a union at that time, but could not reject the idea, as it was the foundation of his own legitimacy. As such, he was rushed into duplicating his Egyptian policies in Syria without the time to adapt them to the Syrian situation. This led to a spiral wherein Nasser was perceived as attempting to dominate Syria and alienated the elites, who in turn furthered the argument of Nasser’s heavy-handedness. Overall, The Decline of Arab Unity presents a strong case and does very well in bringing together a handful of arguments into something comprehensible and satisfying. The major omission here is the lack of archival Arabic-language sources, which was a product of circumstance, rather than any fault of the author. It does give the book the strange feeling of discussing a topic with only limited perspective from the main subjects, and thus it would be nice to see a more updated work that takes advantage of the wider availability of Arab sources. Until then, however, this text is a good option for scholars seeking a better understanding of the UAR as a foundation for their own works. ...more

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García Márquez for Beginners
by Mariana Solanet

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Smoked Beers: History, Brewing Techniques, Recipes (Classic Beer Style Series, 18.)
by Geoff Larson

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It might seem odd to bother reviewing a book like Smoked Beers, which was published in 2000 and thus contains a fair share of outdated material. For example, many of the breweries mentioned no longer exist or are no longer producing their smoked beer It might seem odd to bother reviewing a book like Smoked Beers, which was published in 2000 and thus contains a fair share of outdated material. For example, many of the breweries mentioned no longer exist or are no longer producing their smoked beers. From another perspective, some of the particular styles mentioned as obscure are now far more popular, as is the notion of smoked beer and even craft beer in general. The question that needs to be asked, therefore, is whether this book is worth picking up a quarter of a century later, in a world dominated by easy access to online information and a mainstream craft beer culture. My answer is yes, as the core information (including the major breweries discussed, Alaskan and Schlenkerla) holds up today and is presented here in an easily-accessible format. Even above an individual preference for physical books, however, this tome collects all there is to know (and somehow more) about its eponymous subject in a way that is not found elsewhere.

Smoked Beers is part of the “Classic Beer Style Series” and is arguably the most obscure style covered. One imagines that is far easier to produce a lengthy work on the history of, and brewing techniques for, such broad categories as “stout”, “porter”, and “pale ale”, and thus to write a full book, the authors have to go in some directions that are arguably more tangential. The lengthiest section, for example, is chapter one, “History of Smoke in Beer”, which goes all the way back to ancient Sumeria and touches upon some obscure textual references. As a historian I enjoyed this, but also acknowledge that some discussions may feel like a bit of a stretch and might be of limited interest to the casual reader, or those with a very narrow focus on beer.

This is a minor point, however, and from here the topics become more straightforward. Chapter two dives a little deeper into the history and operations of some of the more well-known smoked beer brewers, Schlenkerla, Spezial, and Alaskan, with some other relevant topics mixed in. The third chapter looks at different styles of smoke and smoked beer around the world and provides examples of the beers that are produced globally. Chapter four, “The Chemistry of Smoke”, is exactly that and is a highly scientific discussion that explains the chemical processes involved with smoking. Unlike the other chapters, it is heavily technical, but there is a warning about this in the introduction and it can be skipped for those who are not interested, even by those hoping to brew the style. The fifth and sixth chapters delve into the practical matters of smoking malt and brewing smoked beer, less technical than the previous section, although engaging industry-specific terms that should be familiar to homebrewers. The latter chapter also includes brewing recipes for readers to try out at home.

This ends the main book, although there are several interesting appendices that cover cooking with smoked beer (along with more recipes), a list of breweries that produce smoked beers and where they are located, a list of wood suppliers, a unit conversion chart, and a useful glossary of terms. Overall, Smoked Beers requires only limited specialist knowledge and is not overloaded with technical terms, except in chapter four (where the reader is duly warned) and where appropriate for homebrewers, who are the intended audience of the book. My only real criticism is that some discussions have a lot of prefacing beforehand, only to be very brief in substance, and thus one can spend more time reading the author’s caveats than the actual information provided. Overall, however, it is definitely a book worth reading if you are into beer or homebrewing, one that does well in balancing an in-depth look into its subject with accessibility. ...more

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Making It So
by Patrick Stewart

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The first matter to raise about Patrick Stewart’s autobiography Making It So is that, despite the title, there is only limited discussion of what the actor is best known for: Star Trek. For me, this was not a problem, as his role in that show has bee The first matter to raise about Patrick Stewart’s autobiography Making It So is that, despite the title, there is only limited discussion of what the actor is best known for: Star Trek. For me, this was not a problem, as his role in that show has been covered in considerable depth in so many publications elsewhere. It should be mentioned, however, as fans of the show will not find any secret tidbits from Stewart’s personal recollections or hear anything that they did not know already. Similarly, there is not much about his long-time participation in the X-men series.

What we get instead – it seems – is what Stewart sees as defining himself, which is not surprising given that these are his reflections on his life. The focus, therefore, is more on theatre productions, which come off as more important to him than the roles that he is most known for in film and television. Perhaps the book’s biggest strength, at least for fans of Patrick Stewart rather than Star Trek, is the lengthy exploration of his youthful days. As an actor often viewed as a perpetually older man (his screen debut on Coronation Street as a firefighter at age 27 is instantly recognizable as Picard), this “section”, which encompasses over half of the work and includes pictures from his youth, feels the most insightful and paints a different picture than his public persona.

The first half of the book portrays Patrick Stewart as a real human being, rather than just a celebrity. Unlike many celebrities today, Stewart did not grow up with any connections to people in the industry, nor did his upbringing permit him to explore his interests in financial comfort. It is refreshing to see such a revered figure humanized and come to the surface with all of his faults and failings.

This is, of course, part of the objective of the work, and the reader can determine how much cynicism they want to attribute to the author’s intent. There is a clear effort to transform the public perception of Stewart as a pompous, wealthy womanizer, and the authenticity of this effort is up to the judgement of the individual reader. For example, he admits to cheating on his first wife and states bluntly that it was a mistake before moving on. He also does not seem too concerned at what people think of his marrying a woman 38 years his junior, which is perhaps fair as an honest reflection.

On the whole, however, the book gave me a feeling of the illusion of honesty rather than an unabashed reflection; Stewart ultimately permits you to see only what he is comfortable with you seeing. Certainly, there are moments of genuine honesty: he discusses the domestic violence that he experienced, reveals the lowest point in his life when he seriously contemplated suicide, and is straightforward with his infidelity. This authenticity, however, serves more at times to distract the reader from other omissions, most of which concern his family. His older brother Geoffrey, for example, disappears suddenly from the narrative and leaves one curious as to his fate. The degree to which he engages his other brother, Trevor, whose death concludes the book, only makes one wonder more what happened to Geoffrey and why the silence is present. The same can be said about Stewart’s relationship with his own children; they too disappear from the story fairly early (at least in terms of their lives) and no serious attempt is made to explain why they are absent. Given the rest of the biography, it makes it clear that this is a sore spot for Stewart that he wants to avoid discussing, one that is perhaps unwilling (or unable) to address.

The parts outside of his youth tread more familiar territory, although one gets the sense that in some of the more well-known moments and stories, he covers them more out of a sense of obligation than personal interest. On the whole, Making It So is an autobiography that seems genuine on the surface, but ultimately lacks the material that would make it a classic in the genre. While there is something to be gained here for fans of Patrick Stewart, and it will certainly stick in your head for a long time afterwards, readers should take it for what it is, part personal reflection, part exercise in public image and legacy, rather than placing any expectations on the content. If you enjoy Stewart, you will enjoy this, and it may even make you think, but there is nothing truly revealing or shocking to be found. ...more

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