Preface
Middle Eastern Societies and Ordinary People's Lives p. 1
Precolonial Lives p. 29
Assaf: A Peasant of Mount Lebanon p. 31
Yishaq Ben Ya'is Halewi: A Moroccan Reformer p. 44
Shemsigul: A Circassian Slave in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Cairo p. 59
Journeymen Textile Weavers in Nineteenth-Century Damascus; A Collective Biography p. 75
Ahmad: A Kuwaiti Pearl Diver p. 91
Mohand N'Hamoucha: Middle Atlas Berber p. 100
Ramadan al-Suwayhli: Hero of the Libyan Resistance p. 114
Bibi Maryam: A Bakhtiyari Tribal Woman p. 129
Colonial Lives p. 143
The Shaykh and His Daughter: Coping in Colonial Algeria p. 145
Izz al-Din al-Qassam: Preacher and Mujahid p. 164
Abu Ali al-Kilawi: A Damascus Qabaday p. 179
M'hamed Ali: Tunisian Labor Organizer p. 191
Muhammad El Merid: The Man Who Became Qaid p. 211
Hagob Hagobian: An Armenian Truck Driver in Iran p. 224
Naji: An Iraqi Country Doctor p. 234
Muhammad Ameur: A Tunisian Comrade p. 251
Contemporary Lives p. 269
Migdim: Egyptian Bedouin Matriarch p. 271
Amir Agha: An Iranian Worker p. 290
Rostam: Qashqa'i Rebel p. 305
An Iranian Village Boyhood p. 320
Gulab: An Afghan Schoolteacher p. 336
Sumaya: A Lebanese Housemaid p. 352
Abu Jamal: A Palestinian Urban Villager p. 364
Haddou: A Moroccan Migrant Worker p. 377
Glossary p. 395
List of Contributors p. 399