St Antony's

A History of the Middle East Centre for Arab Studies

By: James Craig

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Hardcover | 18 August 1998 | Edition Number 2

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224 Pages

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22.4 x 14.5 x 1.6

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Shemlan, a small, once unknown village in the hills overlooking Beirut, became notorious throughout the Middle East when Bertram Thomas chose it as the location for the Middle East Centre for Arab Studies (MECAS) in 1947. The knowledge that a western government was taking pains to teach its citizens Arabic and inform them of Arab history, society and religion made the Arabs suspicious. The success of MECAS in producing specialists who were the envy of other governments produced doubt and anxiety. The power of MECAS to attract British but also foreign diplomats and businessmen should have made it a profitable enterprise; instead there was constant penny-pinching and reluctance to invest. In retrospect it looks like an excellent idea developed by improvisation through its early troubles which was then allowed to die in its prime. Was it yet another example of a British invention unexploited?

Industry Reviews

'In his lively, comprehensive and often humorous account, Sir James Craig describes how a good idea was turned into a unique and highly successful enterprise, despite doubts at home and political tensions and conflicts in the region.' - Sir Donald Maitland

'From personal knowledge, the memories of students, and from official documents, [Sir James Craig] has put together an excellent history.' - M.E. Yapp, The Times Literary Supplement

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Published: 1st January 1998

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List of Plates
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
The Idea	p. 1
The Jerusalem Years	p. 10
A Village in the Mountains	p. 25
The Early Years in Shemlan	p. 31
Reform	p. 54
Expansion	p. 67
The Final Years	p. 89
Problems	p. 112
Who Were They?	p. 127
How Well Did It Do?	p. 147
Directors	p. 165
Principal Instructors	p. 166
Administration Officers	p. 167
Arab Instructors	p. 168
First Course, Jerusalem 1944-45	p. 169
Second Course, Jerusalem 1945-46	p. 170
Third Course, Jerusalem and Zerqa 1946-47	p. 171
Fourth Course, Shemlan 1947-48	p. 172
New Year Quiz	p. 173
Tenth Background Course	p. 175
NUPOSA	p. 178
MECAS Examination Results (1971-74)	p. 182
Notes	p. 183
Index	p. 189
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

St Antony's

A History of the Middle East Centre for Arab Studies

At a Glance

Hardcover

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

Other Editions and Formats

Paperback

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