Author Archives: H.L. Murre - van den Berg

Simon Sebag Montefiore’s, Jerusalem: The Biography (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2011) is a highly readable history of Jerusalem, by a late descendant of a nephew of the famous Sir Moses Montefiore who with his wife Judith, alongside the Rothschilds invested considerable … Continue reading →

This year started off well for the study of Coptic Christianity, with two books covering the early modern and modern history of the major Christian community of Egypt that over the last years have felt increasingly pressured by the rapid … Continue reading →

Three interesting volumes on various aspects of Middle Eastern history were published last year (2010), all of which address, in different ways, the position of Christians from the 16th c. onwards. All three were the result of exciting conferences, and to all … Continue reading →

Not really in the field of Middle Eastern Christianity, but one of my more impressive reads of the last month is worth noting here: Gilbert Achcar’s The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives (Saqi, Lebanon: 2010 — … Continue reading →

Last December, the second edition of Betty Jane Bailey & J. Martin Bailey’s volume on the Christians of the Middle East was published. I somehow had missed the first edition, and was looking forward to have a look at the … Continue reading →

Just in time for the Synod of Bishop’s Special Assembly for the Middle East another important volume was published on the Catholic Christians on the Middle East. It is the result of a conference in London (Heythrop College) held in … Continue reading →

One of the books that should have figured on Pope Benedict´s reading list in preparation for the synod on the Middle East in Rome is the thorough introduction that was published earlier this year:   Harold Suermann, Kirche und Katholizismus seit … Continue reading →

Last Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010, the special assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops started off with an eucharist celebration, and today, Monday, the opening session took place. While we have to wait and see what the … Continue reading →

Het net verschenen nummer van ZemZem (Tijdschrift over het Midden-Oosten, Noord-Afrika en islam – losse verkoop in veel boekhandels), waarvoor ik zelf de introductie heb bijgedragen, is een geslaagd themanummer over het christendom in het Midden-Oosten geworden, met artikelen die o.a. aandacht … Continue reading →

Though not having been short-listed for the Man Booker prize, there are at least five good reasons to read The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell (London 2010). – the language, the language: while Mitchell makes non-native English speakers acutely … Continue reading →