Alternate views of Arab culture?

April 4, 2008 8:45 PM

A friend at the State Department is going out to Iraq. He's receiving a bunch of cultural and language training from the department, but I'd like to give him a book about the culture there from another view (not necessarily political - he'll get enough briefing on that). Any suggestions?
posted by ntk to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

This obviously isn't going to jive with the politics of the current DoS regime, but everyone going to an Arabic-speaking country should read this book. It's amazing how few American citizens know the detailed history of the Iran-Iraq war:

http://www.amazon.com/Great-War-Civilisation-Conquest-Middle/dp/140004151
posted by thewalrus at 9:32 AM on April 5, 2008

Print out & bind Riverbend's posts.
posted by tachikaze at 9:45 AM on April 5, 2008

I would imagine he is already familiar with it, but The Prince of the Marshes would be an appropriate book.
posted by thomas144 at 10:38 AM on April 5, 2008

I'm not sure what you mean by "another view." As compared to what view?

A.M. Hamilton, A Road Through Kurdistan
Great account of road-building through Kurdistan, written by a British engineer.

Anything by Gertrude Bell.
posted by Brian James at 11:09 AM on April 5, 2008

i'm assuming that "another view" means "someone other than the State Department," yes?

sometimes folktales and food customs can be interesting & entertaining windows into a culture

memoirs are also good for accessing diverse perspectives - you could check out Farewell Babylon, an account of growing up Jewish in the 1940s in Baghdad

knowing a bit more than recent history is also helpful - Baghdad, for instance, was once a very different place - if your friend is interested in more history there's quite a number of resources collected here

p.s. wanted to note that many of Riverbend's posts have been published in book format
posted by jammy at 9:08 AM on April 17, 2008