Greenwood Political Leaders of the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa: A Biographical Dictionary

This masterful compilation of biographical essays on prominent Middle East and North African political leaders fills a void in the current reference literature. The essays, of substantial length and written by experts, cover 70 persons who have made an impact on world events since World War II.... This valuable work is highly recommended for large general collections as well as for scholarly libraries. Library Journal Major Middle Eastern and North African political leaders are profiled in this biographical reference volume. It is one of the few systematic examinations of the political personalities and leaders in this area of the world. The book focuses on the period since World War II, a time that includes the formative years of many of the states, and examines the roles of these Middle Eastern/North African statesmen in the evolution of political life in their own countries or organizations and other political systems in the Middle East/North Africa and beyond. The geographical area covered is more extensive than that usually considered in works on the Middle East and includes Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Yemen, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Moshe Dayan, Saddam Hussein, Golda Meir, Muammar Qaddafi, Anwar al-Sadat, and Yasser Arafat are among the leaders included. They were selected because they are leaders of note who have had a substantial effect on politics in the Middle East and North Africa. The profiles include basic who's who information but reach far beyond that to explore the personal and political evolution of the individuals, their methods, programs, and goals, and their contributions to the political past, present, and probable future of their own countries, the Middle East and North Africa, and the international arena. A brief bibliography of works by and about the subject follows each essay and provides sources of further research and information. Also included are a general subject index and chronology. This comprehensive work will be of interest to historians, teachers and students of Middle Eastern/North African history and politics and, because of its timeliness and relevance to current events, the general reader concerned with what's going on in the world today and why.