First published in 1911, Ameen Rihani's Book of Khalid is widely considered the first Arab American novel. The semi autobiographical work chronicles the adventures of two young men, Khalid and Shakib, who leave Lebanon for the United States to find work as peddlers in Lower Manhattan. After mixed success at immersing themselves in American culture, the two return to the Middle East at a time of turmoil following the Young Turk Revolution in the Ottoman Empire. Khalid attempts to integrate his Western experiences with Eastern spiritual values, becoming an absurd, yet all too serious,...

This book explores the complex relationship between nationalism and liberal thought in the Arab East during the first half of the twentieth century. Examining this formative period through reformist Islam, Arab secularism and Arab literature, the book situates major shifts in the political ideologies and practices of Arab liberals within a historical context. Contributions from renowned scholars in the field show how rather than fundamentally contradicting each other, these two schools of thought are closely linked. Many key demands of liberalism - most notably constitutionalism, the rule of...

Examining core issues of post-1967 Arab liberalism, this book brings forth a timely study highlighting the key themes of freedom and democracy championed in the 2011 uprisings as central to Arab liberal thought. The volume aims at confronting the image of the Middle East as a region that is fraught with totalitarian ideologies, authoritarianism, and conflict. It gives voice and space to other, more liberal and adaptive narratives that endorse the right to dissent, question the status quo, and offer alternative visions for society.