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For God, Mammon, and Country: A Nineteenth-Century Persian Merchant, Haj Muhammad Hassan Amin al-Zarb (1834-1898)
Shireen Mahdavi Manufacturer: Westview Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 0813338751 |
Book Description
Haj Muhammad Hassan Amin al-Zarb (1835-1898) rose from humble beginnings to become one of Iran's wealthiest and most prominent merchants, eventually achieving the post of Master of the Mint in the Shah's government. Shireen Mahdavi's For God, Mammon, and Country is the first major account of Amin al-Zarb's life and times. Mahdavi's portrait of Amin al-Zarb provides important insights into the economic, social, and political role played by merchants in Iran, and elsewhere in the Middle East, during the nineteenth century. Drawing on hitherto unpublished family archives, Mahdavi has written not only a biography of a fascinating individual, but also a social history of nineteenth century Iran, illuminating the customs and lifestyle of the period in a manner which brings the era to life. This book is the first major account of the life and times of a merchant in nineteenth-century Iran or in the Middle East. Haj Muhammad Amin al-Zarb (1834-1898) rose from humble beginnings to become one of Iran's wealthiest and most prominent merchants. He built up his wealth as a money changer, a trader in textiles, precious stones, opium, carpets, agricultural products, and staple foodstuffs amongst other goods, and judicious transactions in land. Adept at cultivating powerful connections, he became the principal supplier of luxury goods to the Shah, his court, and members of the ruling elite; served as private banker to the Shah, his prime minister, and influential bureaucrats; and became Master of the Mint. He had agents in all the main towns of Persia and Europe with correspondents in Asia and America. Amin al-Zarb was also an entrepreneur, industrialist, and innovator. Determined to bring to Iran the advances he had witnessed in Europe, he invested in mining, established factories with imported machinery (such as glass, china, and silk reeling), built a railway line, and urged the Shah to establish a national bank. He also became an advocate of reform and curbs on arbitrary rule. He befriended the famous Islamic reformer, Jamal al-Din Afghani. An innovator in business, Amin al-Zarb led a very traditional life at home. Gifted at making money, he was nevertheless a pious man who contributed generously to religious and charitable causes. Shireen Mahdavi draws on hitherto unpublished family archives to write not only a biography of a fascinating nineteenth-century merchant but also a social history of the period. Her portrait of Amin al-Zarb also provides important insights into the economic, social, and political role played by merchants in Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East in the nineteenth century."The importance of the role of the merchant in the Iranian constitutional revolution of 1906 has been frequently remarked but the merchants themselves have been little studied. Now at last we can welcome a scholarly biography of the leading merchant, Amin al-Zarb." -Malcolm Yapp, Emeritus Professor of the Modern History of Western Asia, University of London
"Shireen Mahdavi has written a fascinating book, based on original archives, about the most important Iranian merchant of the late nineteenth century, Amin al-Zarb. She effectively recounts both his rags-to riches life and his role in the changing economy and politics of late Qajar Iran." -Nikki Keddie, University of California, Los Angeles
"Shireen Mahdavi investigates the economic, financial, commercial and industrial activities of Haj Muhammad Hassan Amin al-Zarb, perhaps the greatest Persian entrepreneur of his time. Dr. Mahdavi's book fills in a major lacuna in late nineteenth century Persian history." -Michel Mazzaoui, Professor of Persian History, University of Utah
"Shireen Mahdavi has written a fine scholarly biography which makes an important contribution to the social and economic history of the Middle East and is an essential work for anyone interested in the area. The author has done painstaking first hand research of private and public archives. To my knowledge there is no comparable study for Iran or the Middle East." -Farhad Kazemi, New York University
"This is a richly-crafted portrait of Amin al-Zarb, Iran's leading merchant in the second half of the nineteenth century. The book considerably deepens our knowledge of the role of the merchant in politics and the economy in the Qajar period, the sources of their wealth, their complex relationship, both cooperative and adversial, with the Shah and the powerful men of the state, and their role as transmitters of new ideas and the new technology. Students of both Iran and the Arab Middle East will find it fascinating." -Shaul Bakhash, George Mason University
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Trial by Basketball: The Life and Times of Tex Winter
Mark Bender Manufacturer: Addax ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items: ASIN: 1886110964 |
Book Description
Known as The Master and Inventor of the triangle offense that made the Chicago Bulls a dynasty and Michael Jordan a superstar, Tex Winter is a man with a story. This authorized biography tells the story of the coach with the longest tenure in the nation.Customer Reviews:
Winter IS A Winner! A very fine book about a Man's Basketball Man, who's life in the sport has helped all around him!.......2007-04-27
A Winner!.......2000-05-08
The pace is fast, and the anecdotes and behind-the-scenes tidbits entertain as we go with the teams through Winter's unprecedented 53 year professional career as a coach. From Kansas State, Washington, and the Houston Rockets to fourteen years with the Chicago Bulls, and the current LA Lakers, we travel the backroads of behind the scene basketball. Bender gives us the inside story on the conflicts, the joys, and the frustrations of coaching mega-stars with mega-egos while trying to teach them values of character and integrity.
This book would be a perfct gift for any high school athlete. Bender gives the reader deep insights into not only the sports psychology that Winter uses, but into the secrets of what it really takes to be able to uphold personal values in the rip-roaring jungle of professional sports.
I loved every minute of this great ride, and if you love basketball, you will too!
MY LATE NIGHT REVIEW, AFTER EXPERIENCING TRIANGLE FEVER!.......2000-05-08
Must Read for Triangle Offense and Tex Winter Fans.......2000-04-30
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Produced and Abandoned: The Best Films You'Ve Never Seen
Manufacturer: Mercury House ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 0916515842 |
Customer Reviews:
Upgrade Your Knowledge of Good Films.......2003-10-12
Title implies that the films critiqued in the book are rare or little known, but actually I would say it is possible that half are available at any large video rental place, nearly all available through mail order. What this book does is introduce reader to about 100 films that are worth watching for various reasons, according to an interestingly varied assortment of film critics.
This is actually a product of the National Society of Film Critics. Contributors include Pauline Kael and Roger Ebert, Terence Rafferty and Judith Crist... Not shabby at all! Plus almost everything is written with more a sense of appreciation and enthusiasm than overwrought intellectual analysis.
Editor Sragow was definitely among the top two or three critics ever staffed by the San Francisco Chronicle. His contributions to the book are reviews of All Night Long, Southern Comfort, and the generally underrated Blow Out, the latter being a rare glimpse of Brian DePalma as a director concerned with issues of ethics and integrity, with an excellent performance by John Travolta. So that's the sort of thing the book offers, namely praise for unusual treatments and underappreciated performances.
Only shaky part is that the average reader may not already be familiar with the tastes of any of the critics, and may find an unexpected disagreement with one of the critics over a film or two. I can't say that this book has managed to isolate a hundred films that are absolutely incredible, and the whole world will agree. But there are way more gems than slag in this collection, and the writing is generally very good.
For the average DVD or video renter, this book could be the perfect consciousness-raiser. After reading a few of the reviews (which each average only 2 or 3 pages), the reader will probably find a title he or she MUST now view. Helps reader on the adventurous quest of expanding his or her viewing experience. It's a fine book in that sense!
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Conspiracy Files: Real-life Stories of Paranoia, Secrecy, and Intrigue
David Southwell , and Sean Twist Manufacturer: Gramercy ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 0517224461 Release Date: 2004-08-10 |
Book Description
Brace yourself for 100 of the strangest, most persistent, and bizarre conspiracy theories you will ever read. These are eerie stories concerning tragedies such as Pearl Harbor and SARS, and dark machinations surrounding the deaths of cultural icons such as JFK, Marilyn Monroe, and Princess Diana. Discover compelling theories about Stonehenge and Roswell, and spine-tingling speculations about the Mafia and Pentagon. All the details of the conspiracies are based on solid facts—here, in full are the conspiracies you thought you knew about.Customer Reviews:
The ultimate conspiracy book.......2007-04-30
Bang up to date, bang on the money.......2005-07-19
The type of book Bill Hicks would have written.......2005-06-29
File it in the Only Buy if Cheap Basket.......2004-12-07
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Perplexing Perceptions: Over 125 Challenging Exercises
David Popey Manufacturer: Thunder Bay Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 1592233538 |
Book Description
The follow-up volume to Number Enigmas and Perceptual Puzzlers, here is a fun and challenging collection of brainteasers featuring 3-D, geometrical, and shape challenges. Designed to exercise the right-hand side of the brain, these puzzles will sharpen insight, imagination, color and shape awareness, and even daydreaming skills! With more than 100 visual challenges that will keep puzzlers busily engaged for hours, Perplexing Perceptions is guaranteed to give your right hemisphere a workout that's satisfying and fun.
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Mastering Microsoft Exchange Server 2003
Barry Gerber Manufacturer: Sybex ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0782142044 |
Book Description
Exchange Server 2003, the next version of Microsofts messaging and collaboration server, provides corporate environments with built-in e-mail, calendaring, contact and task management, discussion groups and document workflow. IDC recently reported that Exchange Server's user install base grew to 39.40f the total market, clearly surpassing IBM Notes as the leading integrated collaborative environment.Customer Reviews:
Good Explanations but not Practical.......2004-11-27
Overall, not too bad.......2004-07-26
Poor writing style.......2004-06-27
Things get worse when on page 142 he still needs to explain the difference between FAT and NTFS.
quote: "Setup displays a little gauge showing formatting progress. Formatting takes quite a
bit of time."
in this case, burning a book is ok ;)
From The Author.......2004-05-29
The comments that have been expressed about my book "Mastering Microsoft Exchange Server 2003" are interesting. They seem to come from two basic types of readers: those that have a hands-on job to do and those focusing on the Exchange Server certification process.
The book is for those who have a hands-on job to do -- install and run Exchange Server. Comments I receive from readers with that task, especially those starting anew with Exchange Server are almost always complementary. They also ask questions to which I usually respond quickly.
Hands-on people looking for a more advanced book on Exchange Server 2003, should read Jim McBee's "Exchange Server 2003 24seven," also from Sybex. I was privileged to work with Jim on this edition of his book and am listed as a contributing author on the cover.
People who are collecting facts for certification tests should turn to the many books on Exchange certification. There isn't time or space in a book the size of mine to deal with every detail of the Exchange system. For example, contrary to a comment by an earlier Amazon reviewer, you can actually upgrade an Exchange 5.5 system to Exchange 2000 or 2003, operate it successfully and ultimately remove 5.5 components without knowing that SRS, the Site Replication Service, participates in Exchange 5.5-Exchange 2000 or 2003 data replication. Certification is valuable, but it can't replace hands-on experience when it comes time to do a real job.
I have successfully planned, installed and supported Exchange systems for a number of medium and large user-base clients for 10 years. I also do Exchange Server security breach forensics. As one with a set of hands-on jobs to do, I have written a book for that sort of person.
Good in some areas, lacking in others.......2004-05-01
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Mastering Microsoft Exchange Server 2003
Barry Gerber Manufacturer: John Wiley and Sons ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000K3YMZQ |
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The Man Awakened from Dreams: One Man's Life in a North China Village, 1857-1942
Henrietta Harrison Manufacturer: Stanford University Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0804750696 Release Date: 2005-01-07 |
Book Description
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Nations Remembered: An Oral History of the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles in Oklahoma, 1865-1907
Theda Perdue Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0806125233 |
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Nations Remembered: an Oral History of the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles in Oklahoma, 1865-1907
Theda Perdue Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000N63KKS |
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Travels in Four Dimensions: The Enigmas of Space and Time
Robin Le Poidevin Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0198752555 |
Book Description
Space and time are the most fundamental features of our experience of the world, and yet they are also the most perplexing. Does time really flow, or is that simply an illusion? Did time have a beginning? What does it mean to say that time has a direction? Does space have boundaries, or is it infinite? Is change really possible? Could space and time exist in the absence of any objects or events? Are our space and time unique, or could there be other, parallel worlds with their own space and time? What, in the end, are space and time? Do they really exist, or are they simply the constructions of our minds? Robin Le Poidevin provides a clear, witty, and stimulating introduction to these deep questions, and many other mind-boggling puzzles and paradoxes. He gives a vivid sense of the difficulties raised by our ordinary ideas about space and time, but he also gives us the basis to think about these problems independently, avoiding large amounts of jargon and technicality. His book is an invitation to think philosophically rather than a sustained argument for particular conclusions, but Le Poidevin does advance and defend a number of controversial views. He argues, for example, that time does not actually flow, that it is possible for space and time to be both finite and yet be without boundaries, and that causation is the key to an understanding of one of the deepest mysteries of time: its direction. Travels in Four Dimensions draws on a variety of vivid examples and stories from science, history, and literature to bring its questions to life. No prior knowledge of philosophy is required to enjoy this book. The universe might seem very different after reading it.Customer Reviews:
Weighty matters in simple language.......2003-11-09
The questions that the author considers include the following: Are space and mind just mental constructions? Is there a fourth spatial dimension? Do parallel worlds exist? Could time run backwards? Might time travel be possible? Could space exist with nothing in it? Could there be space beyond the universe? and, Did time have a beginning?
Le Poidevin guides the reader through these puzzles with lots of wit in an engaging writing style. Best of all, he makes clear the limitations of our ordinary ideas of space and time and provides us with the tools to think about these problems with a broader brush. He does this by using only a modest amount of physics, so no prior knowledge of science or philosophy is required to enjoy the book.
He also deals with the Fine Tuning of the universe. Even slight differences in the fundamental physical features of the universe (such as in the forces that bind atoms together, the masses of particles, electromagnetic equations and the rate of expansion in the early universe) would have made it impossible for life as we know it to evolve in the universe.
Similar thought-provoking books include Small World by Mark Buchanan, Hidden Connections by Fritjof Capra, The Universe Next Door by Marcus Chown, Before The Beginning by Martin Rees, Time And Space by Barry Dainton and God's Equation by Amir Aczel.
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Travels in Four Dimensions: The Enigmas of Space and Time
Robin Le Poidevin Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000OKSU0I |
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Hands-on training: a horticultural program for park maintenance workers sprouts endless benefits.: An article from: Parks & Recreation
Edward Hersh , and Derrith Wieman Manufacturer: National Recreation and Park Association ProductGroup: Book Binding: Digital ASIN: B0009FZ8OE Release Date: 2005-07-31 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Parks & Recreation, published by National Recreation and Park Association on March 1, 2003. The length of the article is 1234 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Books:
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