A Modern History of the Kurds - Softcover

McDowall, David

4.15

176 ratings by Goodreads

9781860641855: A Modern History of the Kurds

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1860641857 ISBN 13: 9781860641855

Publisher: I. B. Tauris, 1997

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

A history of the tribal people traces Kurdish nationalism from the collapse of Kurdish emirates in the nineteenth century to the present day, examining how tribal politics, an educated class, and conflicts with Iran, Turkey, and Iraq render Kurdish unity ellusive

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From the Back Cover:

In this narrative, the first comprehensive account of recent Kurdish history, David McDowall traces the roots of Kurdish nationalism from the collapse of the Kurdish emirates in the nineteenth century and the consequent crisis in tribal politics, through the post-1918 peace settlement for which the Kurds were wholly unprepared, to the slow emergence of an educated non-tribal class during the middle years of this century. This new class faced two enemies. Externally, it had to resist the recently established regimes in Iran, Turkey and Iraq, all of which equated modernization with state nationalism, ethnic subordination and centralization. Internally, it had to transform a society based primarily on the socio-economic ethic of tribal patronage to one based on ethnic identity. McDowall shows how in each of these countries the struggle has taken on its own characteristics, problems and prospects; why pan-Kurdish unity still proves so elusive; and how governments have used the internal fault lines of Kurdish society to impede national progress. He also explains why the Kurdish question is unlikely to disappear and examines the likely prospects for the future.

About the Author:

David McDowall is an acknowledged expert on the Kurds and author of Palestine and Israel: The Uprising and Beyond (IBT 1989).

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.