Upon its publication in 1991, Albert Hourani's masterwork was hailed as the definitive story of Arab civilization, and became both a bestseller and an instant classic. In a panoramic view encompassing twelve centuries of Arab history and culture, Hourani brilliantly illuminated the people and events that have fundamentally shaped the Arab world. Now this seminal book is available in an expanded second edition. Noted Islamic scholar Malise Ruthven brings the story up to date from the mid-1980s, including such events as the Gulf War; civil unrest in Algeria; the change of...

For more than a century, people have been emigrating from countries of the Mediterranean basin - Spain, Italy, Sicily, Greece and parts of the Near East - to the New World of America and Australasia. This emigration has formed an important part of the international movement of population which is one of the features of the modern world.

This book is concerned with one specific movement, that of emigrants from Lebanon who have established communities in North and South America, the Caribbean, Australia and West Africa, and more recently in the Gulf and other parts of the Middle East....