Research Guides: History Senior Seminar: Middle East

Primary Source Collections

Early Arabic Printed Books From the British Library

Based on A.G. Ellis’s catalogue of the British Library’s collection, Early Arabic Printed Books from the British Library includes examples from over 400 years of books printed in Arabic script as well as translations into European and Asian languages from the period. Together, they demonstrate Europe’s fascination, study, and assimilation of ideas and knowledge originating in the Arabic-speaking world, with its rich heritage of science, poetry, and Islamic texts.

Abbreviation: eapb
Vendor: Gale
Coverage: 1475-1900
Subjects: History, Literature
Type: E-Book Collections, Historical / Primary Sources

Catalogue of Arabic Books in the British Museum, A-Z
Two volume bibliography of the works collected by the British Museum, published by A.G. Ellis: volume I in 1894, volume II in 1901.

Confidential Print: Middle East, 1839–1969

Complete volumes of all British Colonial Office and Foreign Office Confidential Print for the Middle East. From the Egyptian reforms of Muhammad Ali Pasha, the Middle East Conference of 1921, the Mandates of Palestine and Mesopotamia and the Suez Crisis in 1956, to the partition of Palestine, post-Suez Western foreign policy and the Arab-Israeli conflict, these government documents inform the volatile situation in the region today.

Abbreviation: cpme
Vendor: Adam Matthew Digital Ltd
Coverage: 1839–1969
Subjects: History, Middle Eastern Studies
Type: Government Publications, Historical / Primary Sources, Indexes / Catalogs
Confidential Print: Africa, 1834–1966

Complete volumes of all British Government Confidential Print for Africa, from the Colonial, Dominion, Foreign, and War Offices. From coastal trading in the early nineteenth century, through the Conference of Berlin of 1884, and the subsequent Scramble for Africa, to the abuses of the Congo Free State, fights against tropical disease, and more, these government documents are an essential source for the study of African history and the understanding of Africa today.

Abbreviation: cpa
Vendor: Adam Matthew Digital Ltd
Coverage: 1834–1966
Subjects: History, International Affairs, Political Science
Type: Government Publications, Historical / Primary Sources, Indexes / Catalogs, Maps

Foreign Office Files for the Middle East, 1971–1981

From invasions and civil wars to revolutions and revolts, explore a rich period of Middle Eastern History. The Middle East in the 1970s was characterized by its conflicts, with a cast of political figures whose influence can still be felt today. Providing an invaluable resource for researchers and students seeking to understand the modern Middle East, this collection contains complete runs of Foreign Office files, providing an expansive view of key events and their global political impact.

Abbreviation: fofme
Vendor: Adam Matthew Digital Ltd
Coverage: 1971–1981
Subjects: History, International Affairs, Middle Eastern Studies
Type: Government Publications, Historical / Primary Sources, Images, Indexes / Catalogs, Maps, Reports

U.S. Declassified Documents Online
A significant resource for researchers in almost every discipline, this collection makes it possible for researchers to easily and quickly access and review selected previously classified government documents online.
U.S. Declassified Documents Online provides users with:
- actual documents that were used to develop and implement domestic and foreign policies
- provides the “real” story behind events and crises
- encourages critical reevaluation of previously published memoirs and other subjective writings
U.S. Declassified Documents Online enables users to examine documents originating from sources including:
- Atomic Energy Commission
- Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
- Department of Defense
- Department of Justice
- Department of State
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- National Security Council
- Presedential Libraries
- White House
- Other executive agencies
Materials available for review include:
- Cabinet meeting minutes
- CIA intelligence studies and reports
- Correspondence
- Diary entries
- FBI surveillance and intelligence correspondence and memoranda
- Full texts of letters, instructions, and cables sent and received by U.S. diplomatic personnel
- Joint Chiefs papers
- National Security Council policy statements
- Presidential conferences
- State Department political analyses
- Technical studies
- Trade treaties, studies and analyses
- U.S. briefing materials for meetings with foreign heads of state and government officials
- White House Confidential File materials
- And much more
Abbreviation: declassdoc
Vendor: Gale
Coverage: 1941–1997
Subjects: African-American Studies, Economics, History, International Affairs, Latin American & Caribbean Studies, Law, Middle Eastern Studies, Political Science, Public Administration and Policy, Public Safety and Security
Type: Government Publications, Historical / Primary Sources, Images, Standards

Digital National Security Archive
The most comprehensive collection available of significant primary documents central to US foreign and military policy since 1945. Click on "Collections Guide" to see the collections on the Middle East.

Palestine and Israel: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1945-1959

The documents in this collection are sourced from the Central Files of the General Records of the Department of State. This resource offers insight into a range of subjects including the politics, laws, military, economy, industry, natural resources, public works, and media of Palestine and Israel.

Abbreviation: pirds
Vendor: Gale
Coverage: 1939–1945
Subjects: History
Type: Government Publications, Historical / Primary Sources

Records of the Kurds by Anita L. Burdett (Editor)
ISBN: 9781840973259

Publication Date: 2015-11-26

These nine thousand pages of facsimile documents trace early insurgencies directed by the Kurdish people against regional and metropolitan powers, and their interrelations with neighbouring tribes and other ethnic groups at historical flash points, from the origins of nationalist sentiments through a series of disparate revolts in the nineteenth century, and then on to a larger, more cohesive and discernible nationalist movement launched in the aftermath of World War I. They concomitantly depict the extent of territories pertaining to the Kurdish 'homeland', the use of the term 'Kurdistan' generally refers to an agreed geographical area, not to a legal or political entity. Kurdish populated territory evolved over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with some regions becoming entrenched, others subject to constant flux. The map box provides illustrations of the changing territory, or those sections subject to alterations and contestation.

Jerusalem Post
Trial access to ProQuest International Newspapers collection features the Jerusalem Post from 1950-2008
Middle Eastern and North African Newsappers
Open access collection of digitized historical newspapers from the Middle East and North Africa (The Iraq Times is published in English)

Middle East Journal
The Middle East Journal explores the region's political and economic development, cultural and literary heritage, and ethnic and religious diversity. Published quarterly since 1947, the Journal provides peer-reviewed research and analysis on the region, on the area from Morocco to Pakistan.
International Journal of Middle East Studies
The International Journal of Middle East Studies publishes original research on politics, society and culture in the Middle East from the seventh century to the present day. The journal also covers Spain, south-east Europe, and parts of Africa, South Asia, and the former Soviet Union for subjects of relevance to Middle Eastern civilization. Particular attention is paid to the history, politics, economics, anthropology, sociology, literature, and cultural studies of the area and to comparative religion, theology, law, and philosophy.
Journal of Near Eastern Studies
Devoted to an examination of the civilizations of the Near East, the Journal of Near Eastern Studies has for 125 years published contributions from scholars of international reputation on the archaeology, art, history, languages, literatures, and religions of the Near East.
Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association
Each issue of the Journal of Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association contains the latest scholarship on the Ottoman Empire and Republic of Turkey, and includes state of the field essays, book reviews and review articles that examine the wide ranging studies that cross disciplinary, national, ethnic, imperial, periodized, religious, geographic, and linguistic boundaries and take as their focus the diversity of peoples, influences, approaches, times, and regions that make up the Turkish and former Ottoman worlds.

Index Islamicus

The Index Islamicus database indexes literature on Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world. It is produced by an editorial team working at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, established to transmit knowledge about Islamic and Middle East studies, which have traditionally been part of the curriculum of SOAS. Records included in the database cover almost 100 years of publications on the world of Islam.

Material cited in the Index Islamicus includes not only work written about the Middle East, but also about the other main Muslim areas of Asia and Africa, plus Muslim minorities elsewhere. Over 3,000 journals are monitored for inclusion in the database, together with conference proceedings, monographs, multi-authored works and book reviews. Journals and books are indexed down to the article and chapter level.

Subject coverage: Islam, Muslim, Middle East, Arab, Asia, Africa, History, Political science, Arts, Humanities

Abbreviation: iislam
Vendor: ProQuest
Coverage: 1906–Current
Subjects: Asian Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Religion
Type: Indexes / Catalogs
JSTOR

JSTOR is a digital library of academic content in many formats and disciplines. The collections include top peer-reviewed scholarly journals as well as respected literary journals, academic monographs, research reports from trusted institutes, and diverse primary sources. FSU has access to JSTOR’s Archive, Artstor, Primary Sources, and Global Plants collections.

Tutorials:
JSTOR on YouTube
How to search (04:20)
Primary Source Collection: 19th-Century British Pamphlets (00:51)

Abbreviation: jstor
Vendor: JSTOR
Coverage: 1665–Current
Subjects: Arts Administration, Art History, *General / Multi-Subject
Type: E-Book Collections, E-Journal Collections

Tertiary Sources

Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa by Andrea L. Stanton (Editor); Edward Ramsamy (Editor); Peter J. Seybolt (Editor); Carolyn M. Elliott (Editor)
ISBN: 9781412981767

Publication Date: 2012-01-05

In our age of globalization and multiculturalism, it has never been more important for Americans to understand and appreciate foreign cultures and how people live, love, and learn in areas of the world unfamiliar to most U.S. students and the general public. The four volumes in our cultural sociology reference encyclopedia take a step forward in this endeavor by presenting concise information on those regions likely to be most "foreign" to U.S. students: the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. The intent is to convey what daily life is like for people in these selected regions. It is hoped entries within these volumes will aid readers in efforts to understand the importance of cultural sociology, to appreciate the effects of cultural forces around the world, and to learn the history of countries and cultures within these important regions.
Historical Dictionary of the Ottoman Empire by Selcuk Aksin Somel
ISBN: 9780810871687

Publication Date: 2011-12-29

The Ottoman Empire, like its eventual rival the Habsburg Empire, was a dynastic kingdom whose rule encompassed most of the Middle East, most of North Africa, and parts of Europe at its peak in the mid-17th century. Osman I founded the Ottoman Empire in the early 14th century, and subsequent rulers, or Sultans, rapidly expanded the boundaries of the territory. In the 15th and 16th centuries the Ottomans conquered Constantinople, putting an end to the powerful Byzantine Empire and expanded north into Europe, becoming a major player in European politics. At the beginning of the 20th century, the power of the Ottoman Empire had been declining for several hundred years, and the Empire officially dissolved at the end of the First World War. In this revised and updated second edition of the Historical Dictionary of the Ottoman Empire, author Selcuk Aksin Somel introduces both the general reader and the researcher to the history of this dynasty. The comprehensive dictionary includes detailed, alphabetical entries on key figures, ideas, places, and themes related to Ottoman history and culture. An expanded introduction provides a basic overview to the history of the Empire, and a guide to further sources and suggested readings can be found in the extensive bibliography that follows the entries. A basic chronology and various maps and illustrations are also included in the dictionary. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Ottoman Empire.
The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Middle-Eastern and North African History by Jens Hanssen (Editor); Amal N. Ghazal (Editor)
ISBN: 0199672539

Publication Date: 2021-01-30

The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Middle-Eastern and North African History critically examines the defining processes and structures of historical developments in North Africa and the Middle East over the past two centuries. The Handbook pays particular attention to countries that have leapt out of the political shadows of dominant and better-studied neighbours in the course of the unfolding uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. These dramatic and interconnected developments have exposed the dearth of informative analysis available in surveys and textbooks, particularly on Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria.
The Oxford Handbook of the Ends of Empire by Martin Thomas (Editor); Andrew Thompson (Editor)
ISBN: 9780198713197

Publication Date: 2019-02-06

The Oxford Handbook of the Ends of Empire offers the most comprehensive treatment of the causes, course, and consequences of the ends of empire in the twentieth century. The volume's contributors convey the global reach of decolonization, with chapters analysing the empires of Western Europe, Eastern Europe, China and Japan. The Handbook combines broad, regional treatments of decolonization with chapter contributions constructed around particular themes or social issues. It considers how the history of decolonization is being rethought as a result of the rise of the 'new' imperial history, and its emphasis on race, gender, and culture, as well as the more recent growth of interest in histories of globalization, transnational history, and histories of migration and diaspora, humanitarianism and development, and human rights. The Handbook, in other words, seeks to identify the processes and commonalities of experience that make decolonization a unique historical phenomenon with a lasting resonance. In light of decades of historical and social scientific scholarship on modernization, dependency, neo-colonialism, 'failed state' architectures and post-colonial conflict, the obvious question that begs itself is 'when did empires actually end?' In seeking to unravel this most basic dilemma the Handbook explores the relationship between the study of decolonization and the study of globalization. It connects histories of the late-colonial and post-colonial worlds, and considers the legacies of empire in European and formerly colonised societies.

A Typology of Colonialism
Professor Nancy Shoemaker considers the varieties of colonialism in the American Historical Association blog
International Encyclopedia of the First World War
The largest digital English-language reference work on the First World War.

Middle Eastern Studies Research Guide

Middle Eastern Studies Research Guide
Guide to resources about the Middle East in the FSU Libraries