A Blog about Middle Eastern & North African Politics, Society and Culture
Op ed. for Tunisia-Live.net by Tam Hussein. Reproduced with kind permission. The formal opening of Zeitouna University on March 31st, 2012, has gone relatively unnoticed. However, we should perhaps pay… Continue reading "Reopening of Zeitouna Offers Opportunity"
Review by Tam Hussein Tolstoy was right when he likened the famous Chechen warrior, Hadji Murat to a thistle. Indeed since the publication of Tolstoy’s novella ‘Hadji Murat’ in 1907,… Continue reading "Hadji Murat by Leo Tolstoy"
Review by Tam Hussain Western historians have always found it difficult to explain the ‘enigma’ of the early Muslim conquests. Firstly, since Providence no longer has a place in Western… Continue reading "The Great Arab Conquests: How the spread of Islam changed the world we live in by Hugh Kennedy Phoenix (2007)"
Review by Tam Hussein One of the hardest things for a writer is to inhabit a person of historical importance. Amin Maalouf with a mixture of erudition and eloquence has… Continue reading "Leo the African by Amin Maalouf"
Article appeared in Emel magazine Issue 78 March 2011 reproduced with kind permission The brother of a merchant sailor inspired literature from the Spanish novelist and poet. Tam Hussein explores… Continue reading "How Cervantes Lost His Left Arm"
Book Review by Tam Hussain – Reproduced with kind permission from Emel magazine issue 78 March 2011. It is a mark of a talented writer that he is able to… Continue reading "The White Tiger by Arvind Adiga"
Article appeared in Emel magazine Issue 77, February, 2011. Reproduced by kind permission. Captivating the minds of writers, artists and scientists alike, Tam Hussein explains how the Renaissance emerged from… Continue reading "Renaissance Translated"
Article appeared in Emel magazine Issue 76 January 2011. Reproduced with kind permission. The first in a collection of pieces delving into Islamic history and its relevance today, Tam Hussein… Continue reading "On Abbasid Poetry"
Review By Tam Hussein – Reproduced with the kind permission of Emel magazine Issue 67 April 2010. After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 Velidi Togan, leader of the Bashkirt Republic,… Continue reading "Ibn Fadlan’s Journey to Russia: A Tenth Century Traveller from Baghdad to the Volga River Trans. Richard Frye"