{"title":"Books by Jean-Pierre Filiu","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781509556007","title":"The Middle East – A political history from 395 to the present","description":"The Middle East, often referred to as the cradle of the three monotheisms, is saturated with symbolism. Situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, it is a land marked by the rich confluence of religions and peoples.  It has also been the focal point of endemic tensions and conflicts, many of which stretch back into the mists of time.  In this new history of the Middle East, Jean-Pierre Filiu looks beyond religion and focuses his attention on the processes by which powers and their areas of domination were established over time.  His starting point is 395, the year when the Roman Empire was divided into eastern and western halves: at that point, the Middle East emerged as a specific entity, freed from external domination, and a Christianity of the East asserted itself, turned towards Byzantium rather than towards Rome.  From this point on, Filiu follows a strictly Middle Eastern dynamic, tracing the rise and fall of powers linked to the three principal centres of Egypt, Syria, and Iraq and recounting the procession of empires, invasions, and assertions of imperialist ambition that have characterized the region since then.  The book closes in 2022, when the men and women of the Middle East were still struggling for the right to define their destiny by telling their stories in their own voices.    This magisterial and up-to-date history of the Middle East will be essential reading for students and scholars and for anyone interested in the history and politics of one of the most important and contested regions of the modern world.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56312510808437,"sku":"9781509556007","price":30.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781509556007_89ba6039-261c-4287-acdf-5d02edab1c47.jpg?v=1786022052"},{"product_id":"9781805265252","title":"A Historian in Gaza","description":"\u003cp\u003e‘An unflinching eyewitness account of the destruction wreaked by Israel, with Anglo-American support. Look no further for an impartial account of the tragedy of the Palestinians, caught between Hamas’s fanaticism and Netanyahu’s ethnic cleansing.’ — Pratinav Anil, \u003cem\u003eGuardian \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Jean-Pierre Filiu has just published a supplement to his wonderful history, Gaza, called \u003cem\u003eA Historian in Gaza\u003c\/em\u003e. His book counts as essential reading to understand what is happening in that most troubled and tragic region.’ — William Dalrymple, \u003cem\u003eSpectator\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLonglisted for the 2026 Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSelected as a 'Book of the Year' by the \u003cem\u003eGuardian\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eSpectator\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The Gaza I knew, and whose length and breadth I’ve travelled, has ceased to exist.’\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJean-Pierre Filiu, acclaimed historian of Gaza, is intimately familiar with the land’s people and places; he speaks the local dialect. But nothing prepared him for what he encountered there in December 2024. This is his unforgettable, unbearably intimate account of one month in a place shattered by Israel’s all-out war.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen the historian returned to Gaza, he arrived under circumstances unimaginably different from his many past visits since 1980: only a limited number of convoys were allowed into the Strip, and he was one of the few humanitarians able to enter, this time by night. He remained inside for thirty-three days, and emerged determined to bear witness to the devastation—to the Gazans fighting simply to live, every single day.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFiliu’s haunting portrait of a land betrayed is a grim work of war reportage, documented with the acuity of a historian; and a lyrical narrative of human suffering, and human dignity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA noted historian of Gaza provides a first-hand account of conditions on the ground \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWith journalists banned from entering Gaza, Filiu offers a rare opportunity to see inside the devastated territory \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eForces us to confront the brutal human suffering Gazans face on a daily basis \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe author’s previous book, \u003cem\u003eGaza: A History \u003c\/em\u003ewas the Winner of the Middle East Monitor Palestine Book Award\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":56368182690165,"sku":"9781805265252","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57682715378037,"sku":"9781805267546","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781805265252_92e72b2b-759c-4fbe-ae4f-814c25a730f0.jpg?v=1792511599"},{"product_id":"gaza-1","title":"Gaza","description":"\u003cp\u003eThrough its millennium-long existence, Gaza has often been bitterly disputed, yet enduringly neglected. Squeezed between the Negev and Sinai deserts on the one hand and the Mediterranean Sea on the other, Gaza was contested by the Pharaohs, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Fatimids, Mamluks, Crusaders and Ottomans. In 1917, the British Empire fought for months to conquer Gaza, before establishing its mandate for Palestine. In 1948, 200,000 Palestinians sought refuge in Gaza, a marginal area wanted by neither Israel nor Egypt. Palestinian nationalism grew there, and Gaza has since found itself at the heart of Palestinian history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGaza is where the fedayeen movement arose from the ruins of Arab nationalism; where the 1967 Israeli occupation was repeatedly challenged, culminating in the 1987 intifada; where the dream of Palestinian statehood appeared shattered by the 2007 split between Fatah and Hamas; and from where, in 2023, history’s worst attack on Israel was launched, leading to the worst war ever waged against the Palestinians.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJean-Pierre Filiu’s book was the first comprehensive history of Gaza to be published in any language. This new, updated edition covers events since 2011, including Gaza’s renewed tragic centrality to world politics and security since October 2023.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57490078531957,"sku":"9781911723592","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781911723592.jpg?v=1786441973"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-jean-pierre-filiu.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}