Unique, timely, and up-to-date, this volume is the first comprehensive bibliography on Kurdish culture and society. Compiled to help students, educators, researchers, and policy makers find relevant information with ease, the book includes more than 930 items in four major languages--Arabic, English, French, and German. This work covers the fields of anthropology, archaeology, art, communication, demography, travel, economy, education, ethnicity, health, journalism, language, literature, migration, music, religion, social structure, urbanization, and women's studies. The volume includes books and book chapters, journal articles, Ph.D. dissertations, conference papers, articles in dictionaries and encyclopedias, and important World Wide Web sites. Essays provide an overview of Kurdish society as well as surveys of Kurdish life in Syria, the former Soviet Union, Europe, and Lebanon.

An invaluable guide for researchers interested in the Kurds and Kurdistan, this book will aid in the location of information that is highly diverse and scattered. With its focus on a timely subject, this book fills a major gap in the bibliographic literature.

This is a companion volume to Meho's The Kurds and Kurdistan: A Selective and Annotated Bibliography. While the first volume dealt mostly with history and politics drawn largely from English-language sources, the volume under review includes bibliographic entries covering anthropology, archeology, folklore, music, religion, sociology, and women, among others. It also includes valuable entries on the Kurds in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Europe, and the countries of the former Soviet Union. This volume is linguistically much more inclusive than the first. It includes some 930 items with 60 percent of the entries in English, 15 percent in Arabic, 15 percent in French, five percent in German and five percent in other languages, but surprisingly none in Kurdish. The entries range from the early 1700s to 2000. Seventy percent of the entries are accompanied by 50- to 300-word annotations. This bibliography and its companion volume supersede all previous Kurdish bibliographies. It will be an indispensable resource for all scholars and people interested not just in Kurdish affairs, but in the history, societies, and cultures of the Middle East. Recommended for university, college, and major urban libraries. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

This useful annotated bibliography of 931 books, articles, and doctoral dissertations dealing with Kurdish culture follows meho's previous compilation that dealt largely with Kurdish history and politics [The Kurds and Kurdistan: A Selective and Annotated Bibliography (Greenwood Press, 1997)]. Kurdish Culture and Society includes entries in such areas as general works; anthropology; archaeology; decorative fine, and performing arts; description and travel; economy; education; health conditions; Jewish Kurds; journalism, mass communications, and freedom of the press; Kurdish Diaspora; Kurds in Syria, Lebanon, and the former Soviet Union; language studies; literature, folklore, and oral traditions; music, dance, and songs; national cultural and ethnic identity; population and urban studies; religion; women; and miscellany. Although most entries are in English (60 percent), there are also some in Arabic (15 percent), French (15 percent), and German (5 percent), among others. More than 70 percent of the entries are followed by 50- to 300-word annotations either written by the compilers or extracted from reviews or databases. In addition, there are author, title, and subject indices. Finally, Meho has also contributed two introductory essays on "The Kurds and Kurdistan: A General Background" and "The Kurds in Lebanon: An Overview."

The main problem with the present volume is its repition of Meho's earlier compilation. At least 25 percent of the entries in this new work were also published in his previous bibliography. Furthermore, the introductory essay on the Kurds is also largely a reiteration of a similar essay in the first bibliography. Nevertheless, this repition may be of benefit to researcherswho are working primarily on Kurdish culture but do not have ready access to the earlier bibliography. In addition, the essay on the Kurds in Lebanon is new, and indeed rather unique, as little has been published, in English at least, on this subject. As a Lebanese Kurd, Meho is a natural to remedy this lacuna.

Inevitably, the compilers have left out some items that might have been included, while already there are new works one might also wish to add. In addition, many further entries could have been added to the section on web sites. Despite these criticisms, Kurdish Culture and Societywill be a valuable tool for researchers and students of Kurdish culture.

This annotated bibliography on Kurdish culture and society is the first of its kind, both in terms of the language of the sources and the subjects it covers. The volume is divided into two parts. While Part One contains two essays on the Kurds and Kurdistan in general and an overview on the Kurds in Lebanon, Part Two covers the bibliographies. The bibliographical part contains more than 930 entries, identified as books, scholarly journal articles, book chapters, doctoral dissertations, conference papers, and articles in scholarly dictionaries and encyclopedias. While 60% of the sources are in English, the book includes items in Arabic, French, German, Italian and other European languages, with publications dating from the 1700s to the year 2000. A large number of the entries are accompanied by annotations of varying length and character. They are either written by Meho, or are extracted from other identified sources.

The items are divided into 22 sections, starting with general works and ending with miscellaneous pieces. In between are items grouped under anthropology, archaeology, arts, description and travel, economy and development, education, health, Jewish Kurds, Kurdish diaspora, Kurds in Syria, Lebanon and the former Soviet Union; language studies, literature, folklore and oral traditions, music dance and songs; national, cultural and ethnic identity; national identity and the language question; population and urban studies, religion, and women. This compilation is, indeed, an indispensable resource with which researchers and readers can easily identify relevant information on the Kurds and Kurdistan.

In general, the book also contains other important contributions. In the preface, Lokman I. Meho presents an informative and evaluative overview over previous bibliographies on the Kurds. He argues clearly as to why the publication of a new bibliography on Kurdish culture and society is timely and important, pointing out the weaknesses and limitations of previous such works. Of the two essays in Part One, the overview on the Kurds in Lebanon is the more interesting, for Lokman not only draws on his own research on the Kurds in Lebanon, but also incorporates Lebanese sources to shed light on the fate of the Kurds in Lebanon. Lokman identifies the important elements in Lebanese politics that have shaped the Kurdish identity and behavior in Lebanon.

The book's name, title, and subject indexes are well-organized and offer the reader the freedom to use the bibliography in more than one way. However, the three-page appendix on Kurdish world-wide web resources is both short and inadequate (perhaps understandably so, since this is a relatively new field).

It would have been helpful had Meho and Maglaughlin identified in the preface which parts of the book they produced jointly. Because Meho appears in more than one place presenting himself in the first person singular, the division of labor between the authors is not clear. In addition, though the number and variety of entries is impressive, a few authors might be disappointed to discover that their work is not presented in this volume. However, these are shortcomings that could easily be addressed in future editions. Overall, this bibliography will fill a gap in many libraries, both because very few major universities treat Kurdish studies as an independent academic subject and because a great part of the sources are contributions made in non-- Kurdish contexts.

This thematic bibliography aims to supplement existing bibliographies of the Kurds, the largest stateless nation in the world. Entries are allocated among 22 sections, which include, for example, anthropology, archaeology, the arts, education, language, literature, religion, sociology, and women, but exclude history and politics (except selectively, under "Miscellaneous"). Most items (60 percent) are in English. Almost every book or article is supplemented by a description, ranging in length from a few lines to nearly a page. Listing 931 entries and 8 Web sites, and with name, title, and subject indexes, this is a timely and valuable production.

The bibliography proper is prefaced by two essays by Meho, a general background introduction and an overview of the Kurds in Lebanon (pp. 3-47); the second of these fills a notable gap in the literature.

In the bibliographical notes, Kurdish ethnicity and language are given a broad and, at times, questionable interpretation. Entry No. 392, referring to G. Asatrian's entry "Dimili" in Encyclopaedia Iranica, calls this people (also known as Zaza) "Kurds," even though the author is at pains to emphasize their conscious distinctiveness from their Kurdish neighbors in provenance, language, religion, and customs. Entry No. 912 (written by me) is irrelevant, since the Zand tribe is generally considered (and considered themselves) to be Lurs rather than Kurds.

The section on dictionaries omits some well-known items, such as Ebrahimpur's Kurdish-Persian and Persian-Kurdish glossaries. The text is not free of minor misprints. Nevertheless, the volume is a welcome addition to the scholarly apparatus of Kurdish studies.

-- Preface
-- Essays
-- The Kurds and Kurdistan: A General Background by Lokman I. Meho
-- The Kurds in Lebanon: An Overview by Lokman I. Meho
-- Bibliography
-- General Works
-- Anthropology
-- Archaeology
-- Decorative, Fine, and Performing Arts
-- Description and Travel
-- Economy and Development
-- Education
-- Health Conditions
-- Jewish Kurds
-- Journalism, Mass Communication, and Freedom of the Press
-- Kurdish Diaspora
-- Kurds in Syria, Lebanon, and Former Soviet Union
-- Language Studies/Works
-- Literature, Folklore, and Oral Traditions
-- Music, Dancer and Songs
-- National, Cultural, and Ethnic Identity
-- National Identity and the Language Question
-- Population and Urban Studies
-- Religion in Kurdistan
-- Sociology
-- Women
-- Miscellaneous
-- Name, Title and Subject Index