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Published Apr 2016
384 pages
Genre: History, Current Affairs and Religion
Publication Information
A Post-Arab Spring Journey Through the Turbulent New Middle East - Tunisia, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Egypt
The "Arab Spring" all started when a young Tunisian fruit-seller set himself on fire in protest of a government official confiscating his apples without cause and slapping his face. The aftermath of that one personal protest grew to become the Middle East movement known as the Arab Spring – a wave of disparate events that included revolutions, protests, government overthrows, hopeful reform movements, and bloody civil wars.
This book will be the first to bring the post Arab Spring world to light in a holistic context. It is a narrative of the author Shelly Culbertson's journey through six countries of the Middle East, describing countries, historical perspective, and interviews with revolution and government figures.
Culbertson, RAND Middle East analyst and former U.S. State Department officer who has been involved with the Middle East for two decades, is uniquely equipped to analyze the current social, political, economic, and cultural effects of the movement. With honesty, empathy, and expert historical accuracy, Culbertson strives to answer the questions "what led to the Arab Spring," "what is it like there now," and "what trends after the Arab Spring are shaping the future of the Middle East?"
The Fires of Spring tells the story by weaving together a sense of place, history, insight about key issues of our time, and personal stories and adventures. It navigates street life and peers into ministries, mosques, and women's worlds. It delves into what Arab Spring optimism was about, and at the same time sheds light on the pain and dysfunction that continues to plague some parts of the region.
"Starred Review. A well-documented, brave, and useful overview." - Kirkus
"Culbertson walks through the citadels of Amman and Carthage and the pyramids of Egypt, vividly illustrating the omnipresence of the ancient in the modern; her treatment of the Ottoman Empire's demise is particularly illuminating." - Publishers Weekly
"[A] comprehensive and probing analysis of the Arab Spring's impact... A book rich in invaluable information about both current conditions and possible future trends in Middle Eastern life and politics." - Booklist
"An impressive blend of travelogue, history, and analysis that shows that the changes initiated by the Arab Spring are still working themselves out in ways that are not fully predictable, but perhaps more positive than the current scene might lead one to believe." - James Dobbins, Senior Fellow with the RAND Corporation and former Assistant Secretary of State
"[This] book is an example of what travel writing should really be, and shows that no one should despair despite the dreadful conflicts that are raging in parts of the region." - John McHugo, author of A Concise History of the Arabs and Syria: A History of the last Hundred Years
"[A] wonderful, penetrating, and sympathetic look at six Middle Eastern societies rent by the turmoil of the Arab spring and deep-rooted conflict." - Linda Robinson, New York Times bestselling author of Masters of Chaos, Tell Me How This Ends and One Hundred Victories
This information about The Fires of Spring was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Shelly Culbertson has lived, worked and traveled extensively across the Middle East. She is currently a Middle East analyst at The RAND Corporation. She has served as a U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Officer for Turkey. Her articles and OpEds have appeared in Newsweek, US News & World Report, CNN.com, The Los Angeles Times, and others.
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