Book Review: The Islamic near East
| Author | F. R. C. Bagley |
| Date | 01 June 1961 |
| Published date | 01 June 1961 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206101600221 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK
RXVIEWS
201
Republic
of
the
Congo
formerly
Moyen-Congo)
have a
combined
popu-
lation
of
about
four and
a
half
million
people.
They extend
from
the
borders
of
Libya
and
the
Sudan to
the
lower
reaches
of
the
Congo.
The
present
work
is
an
encyclopaedic
survey
of
history,
population,
economic
development,
government,
education
and
religion.
The
authors
had
to
deal
with
an
area
in
rapid
transition.
The
de
Gaulle
constitution
of
1958
opened
with
dramatic
suddenness
the
possibility
of
independence.
The
four
territories
chose
to
become
republics associated
as
member
states
of
the
French
community.
The
account
Is
carried
to
the
end
of
1959
so
that
the
full
effect of
the
transition
had
only begun
to
make
it-
self
felt.
It
is
in
such
states
as these
that
the
problems
of
the balkanization
of
Africa
pose
themselves
in
their
most
acute
form.
Can
a
modern
and
progressive
state
be
constituted
out
of Gabon
with
a
population
of
less
than
500,000
or
Tchad
whose
two
and
a
quarter
million
inhabitants
are
poor, widely
scattered
and
ethnically
and
culturally
heterogeneous?
It
is
doubtful
if
any
of
the
four
would
qualify
for
the
title
of
"nation"
according
to
the
definitions
normally
employed.
After
passing
a
total
of
20
this
reviewer
lost
count
of
the
numiber
of
political
parties
in
these
states,
many
of
them
changing
their
names
and
policies
with
bewildering
rapidity.
Most
of
them
are tribal
rather
than
ideological
groupings
and
depend
more
upon
the
dominance
of
a
single
leader
than
a
grouping
of
mutual
interests.
Although
the
French
for
reasons
of
economy
and
administrative
convenience
attempted
to
centralize
some
aspects
of
government
for
the
four
territories,
Independence
has
disrupted
the
emergent federation
and
each
state
now
goes
its
own
way.
The
desire
for
African
unity
has
been
manifested but
the
willingness
of local
leaders
to
accept
subordinate
positions
has yet
to
be
demonstrated.
The
Emerging States
is
well provided
with
footnotes
and
a
biblio-
graphy.
Much
statistical
information
is
scattered
throughout
the text
and
mnight
more
conveniently
have
been
combined
into
a
series
of
tables.
McGW
University
KETTH
CALLARD
THE
Lsmc
NFAR FA•T.
Edited
by
Douglas
Grant.
1960.
(University
of Toronto
Quarterly.
Toronto:
University
of
Toronto
Press.
130pp.
$2.50.)
This
is
probably
the
first
book
on
Islamic
Studies
ever
published
and
printed
in
Canada;
and
it
contains
much
of
original
and
lasting
value.
The
printing
(always difficult in
this
field)
is
faultless;
the
price
modest.
The
opening
contribution
is
by
Sir
H.
A.
R.
Gibb
of
Harvard
Uni-
versity
on
"Politics
and
Prospects
in
the
Arab
Middle
East".
Arabs
want
independence
and
also
greatness
In
some
distinctively
Arab
or
Islamic way,
but
cannot
decide
what
they
want
in
place
of
Islamic
institutions
which
have
decayed.
Their
authoritarian
tradition,
the
weakness
of
private enterprise,
and
new
factors
such
as
oil
revenues
and
foreign
aid funds,
confine
initiative
to power-hungry
state
govern-
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