Preliminary Reading

Arabic
General

You may find the following books interesting:

  • D. Brown, A New Introduction to Islam, second edition, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell (2009.)
  • F. Robinson (ed.), The Islamic World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1996).
  • T. Sonn, Islam: A brief History, second edition, Chichester: Wiley (2010).
Language

You are expected to learn the Arabic script before you start your course. Books we can recommend are:

  • J. Wrightwick and M. Gaafar, Mastering Arabic, second edition, Palgrave Macmillan (2007).
  • Brustad et al., Alif Baa’ second edition, Hopkins Fulfillment Services (2004)

You can also download a worksheet which covers what we expect students to know before they start the course.

You will need a copy of the course book which is:

  • K. Brustad et al., Al-Kitaab fii Ta’allum al-’Arabiyya: A Textbook for Beginning Arabic Part 1, Second Edition, Georgetown University Press, 2004.
    NB: Second Edition, not Third Edition!

A useful grammar book for the first year is:

  • Wightwick, J. and Gaafar, M., Arabic Verbs and Essentials of Grammar, 2007.
 
Literature
  • R. Allen, An Introduction to Arabic Literature, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2000).
  • A. J. Arberry, The Koran Interpreted, Oxford (1964).
Anthropology

  • Wynn, Lisa L. Pyramids and Nightclubs: A Travel Ethnography of Arab and Western Imaginations of Egypt, from King Tut and a Colony of Atlantis to Rumors of Sex Orgies, Urban Legends about a Marauding Prince, and Blonde Belly Dancers. Austin: University of Texas Press (December 2007).

History
  • A. K. Bennison, The Great Caliphs: the Golden Age of the ‘Abbasid Empire, London (2009).
  • Jonathan Berkey, The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800, Cambridge (2003).
  • William L. Cleveland, A History of the Modern Middle East, third edition, Boulder, Colorado (2004).
  • A. Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, Cambridge MA (1991).
  • H. Kennedy, The Great Arab Conquests, How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live in, De Capo Press (2007).
  • M. R. Menocal, Ornament of the World, New York (2002).
  • Charles D. Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Boston, Bedford/St. Martins, Palgrave, Macmillan; 6th Rev Ed (13 April 2007).
Persian
General

• R. Yann, Shi’ite Islam: polity, ideology and creed, Oxford, 1995.
• S. Farman-Farmaian, Daughter of Persia: A Woman's Journey from Her Father's Harem Through the Islamic Revolution, 1993.
• A. Ansari, Modern Iran Since 1921, Harlow, 2003.
• The Ruba’iyat of Omar Khayyam, translated by P. Avery and J. Heath-Stubbs, Penguin Classics, London, 1979
• Rumi, Spiritual Verses, translated by A. Williams, Penguin Classics, London, 2006.

Language

You are expected to learn the Persian script before you start your course. We recommend that you use:

• N. Farzad, Teach Yourself Modern Persian, London, 2004.
• S. Abrahams, Modern Persian. A Course Book. Abingdon, 2005.

You will need a copy of the course books which are:

• W.M. Thackston, An Introduction to Persian, repr. 1993.
• A.K.S. Lambton, Persian Grammar, Students’ Edition, Cambridge, 1963.

History

• A. Bausani, The Persians from the earliest days to the twentieth century, London (1971)
• E. G. Browne, A Year among the Persians, Cambridge (1927).
• R. Mottahedeh, The Mantle of the Prophet, London (1987).
• N. Keddie, Roots of Revolution, New Haven, Conn (1981).

 
 
Literature

• A. J. Arberry, Classical Persian Literature, London (1958).
• Farid ud-Din Attar, The Conference of the Birds, translated by D. Davis, Penguin Classics, London, 1984.
• Firdowsi, The Legend of Syavush, translated by D. Davis, Penguin classics, London, 1992.
• H. Kamshad, Modern Persian Prose, Cambridge (1966).
• S. Daneshvar, A Persian Requiem, translated by R. Zand, London (1991).