mancher Wortarten (Adverbien, Präpositionen), die Syntax

m ancher W ortarten (A dverbien, Präpositionen), die Syntax des Verbs und
verschiedene Typen der Satzverbindungen und Satzgefüge durchgenom m en und
geübt.
Die E rgänzungstexte w erden in dreierlei Form geboten. Die m eisten stellen
Fachtexte dar (G eom etrie, Technik, M edizin); daneben enthalten sie Proben des
arabischen Hum ors und zwei klassische Texte über die Zeit des Aufkom m ens des
Islam. Besonders die Fachtexte bilden den anspruchsvollsten Teil des ganzen
Lehrstoffes und erfordern ein intensives Studium unter Leitung eines Lehrers.
W ohlüberlegt ist die V erteilung und die Auswahl der K onversationsbereiche
und K onversationssituationen. Ihr einigendes Thema ist der A ufenthalt eines
slow akischen A rabisten in Ägypten. M it seinem G esprächspartner, einem
gebildeten Ägypter, konversiert er au f Schriftarabisch, was vollkommen
begreiflich ist. Seine G espräche mit manchen anderen Personen klingen jedoch
nicht ganz natürlich. D essenungeachtet bieten die K onversationstexte ein reiches,
die kom m unikative Fähigkeit förderndes M aterial.
In den Schlussteil des Lehrbuches hat der Autor eine um fangreiche Auswahl
aus m odernen literarischen sowie nichtbelletristischen Texten aufgenom m en. Es
überw iegen darin Proben aus ägyptischen Prosaikern und D ram atikern, vertreten
sind aber auch Syrien, der Irak und Libanon.
Einer der charakteristischen Züge von Sorbys pädagogischer M ethode ist der
Gebrauch visueller A nschauungsm ittel. Der Autor hat alle M öglichkeiten und
V orteile, die die A rbeit mit dem Com puter anbietet (verschiedene Tabellen,
m annigfache Schrifttypen u.a.), maximal ausgenutzt. Dank diesem Umstand ist das
Buch typographisch m ustergültig ausgestattet.
Karol Sorby hat ein w ertvolles Lehrbuch verfasst, das au f seiner langjährigen
pädagogischen Praxis basiert und sich durch eine erprobte M ethode auszeichnet.
Es wird ein intensives Studium des m odernen Arabisch an den slow akischen
Universitäten und in Sprachkursen fördern.
Jaroslav Oliverius
SORBY, Karol R.: Suez 1956. Súmrak tradičného kolonializm u na Blízkom
východe. (Suez 1956. The Tw ilight o f Traditional Colonialism in the M iddle
East). B ratislava, VEDA Publishing House 2003, 347 pp. ISBN 80-224-0782-8.
The num ber o f scientific works dealing with the history o f A sian and A frican
countries is still insufficient in Czech and Slovak historiography. The m ore must
be welcom ed this original synthetic work by a prom inent Slovak A rabist and
historian, expert on A rab and Islamic history, senior research fellow at the Institute
o f Oriental Studies o f the Slovak A cademy o f Sciences in B ratislava.
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Karol Sorby set him self a difficult task in w riting about the Suez crisis which
had already been analysed so many tim es by different authors. H owever, it is one
o f the m ost astonishing events and a m ajor turning point in both British and
M iddle Eastern history.
In this w ell-docum ented work the author uncovers the full story o f Suez. He
offers his reassessm ent in the light o f newly released archives containing some
interesting revelations.
France and Israel had obvious m otives for confronting Jamal Abd al-N asir and
sought British support. But why did A nthony Eden agree? The roots o f the Suez
crisis lay in B ritish interests in the M iddle East dating from the m id-nineteenth
century. By 1945, these interests w ere challenged by pressure for an independent
state o f Israel, the em ergence o f the US as an influential power, and the
replacem ent in Arab countries o f “ old guard” elites, often supported by Britain,
with younger regim es which proclaim ed nationalist agendas. G eographically, the
centre o f the evolving conflict was the Suez Canal. Its control by France and
Britain was an im portant symbol o f the continuing dominance o f those countries in
the region.
Events increasingly isolated the B ritish and brought W ashington into the centre
o f affairs. A m erican support for B ritain as the dom inant W estern pow er in the
M iddle East was no longer assured. The author brings out the reversal this meant
in E d en ’s own policies: the successful 1954 agreem ent with Egypt on evacuation,
the w ell-m eant but abortive A nglo-A m erican Plan Alpha for an A rab-Israeli
settlem ent, and the aid offer for the Aswan Dam (pressed by Eden on a reluctant
US adm inistration to pre-em pt the Soviets). A fter M arch 1956 W ashington and
London had shifted to “containing” Jamal Abd al-N asir and supporting the
Baghdad Pact. The new m aterial show s, however, that Eden was already set on
intervention - against either Israel or Egypt as aggressor. From the m om ent o f the
nationalization o f the canal in July the policy aim was defined as the overthrow of
Jamal Abd al-N asir, public denials notw ithstanding. It rem ains unclear what
exactly - apart from sickness - brought Eden to his paranoiac view o f Jam al Abd
al-Nasir as a latter-day H itler. For one who w itnessed Selwyn L loyd’s reaction in
Cairo to Jamal Abd al-N asir’s quip about the dism issal o f General Glubb (and to
the stoning of L loyd’s party in B ahrain the same evening), that the episode relayed to Eden as p ro o f o f Jamal A bd al-N asir’s malignity - is a key factor. The
author also em phasizes the influence o f N uri al-Said, who advised Eden to “hit the
Egyptian hard and quickly” .
Transatlantic cross-purposes over the canal negotiations are clearly presented:
while John Foster D ulles played for tim e the Europeans worked for a casus belli.
But it is shown that Eden was deceived only by his own wishful thinking into
expecting the U nited States to acquiesce in the Suez attack. The consequences of
Suez em erge as a shedding o f illusion all around. In France, disillusion with allies
and hum iliation in the Arab world p aved the way for de Gaulle, w ithdraw al from
Algeria, and an independent defence policy. B ritain under H arold M acm illan took
the opposite course o f rebuilding the transatlantic relationship and was relatively
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unscathed; Suez m erely exposed the lim itations o f an imperial role that had existed
since 1945. However, the Suez affair had bad consequences for the Conservative
Party and negative im pact on a generation o f diplom ats and others who were
outraged by the actions and deceptions o f their political leaders.
One does not norm ally expect a historical analysis to be a page-turner.
However, this is an extrem ely readable book, and in fact one which is often hard to
put down, so well w ritten is it, so beautifully produced, and so coherent in its
presentation o f w hat in other hands m ight be a tedious subject. In sum this
important and challenging book will be an excellent stim ulus for students o f the
m odern M iddle E astern history. M ore generally, it should be o f great interest for
all those concerned w ith this significant period o f M iddle Eastern history which at
the same tim e provides the background for understanding the contem porary
problems.
The reader finishes this substantial book with a firm grasp o f the main
tendencies o f the historical developm ent. The im pressive part o f it is its
com prehensiveness. The author has put together a fascinating account o f continuity
and change and succeeded on every score.
Eduard Gombár
SORBY, Karol R.: Arabský východ (1945 - 1958). (The Arab East). Bratislava,
Slovak A cademic Press 2005, 305 pp. ISBN 80-89104-77-0.
The political developm ent in the Arab world attracts the attention o f both the
scholars and com m on people since several decades. Along with author’s Suez
1956. The Twilight o f Traditional Colonialism in the M iddle E ast, this m onograph
is an especially w elcom e addition to the scholarly literature on the modern M iddle
East. There has been relatively little systematic, theory-relevant work in Central
European historiography. Teachers o f courses on modern M iddle Eastern affairs
until now have had slim pickings in the way o f synthesizing texts, usually having
to rely on narrative “current history” approaches, im pressionistic essays, or
m ilitary-strategic com pendia.
This book is the best and most com prehensive yet produced in Slovakia in this
field. It actually provides a synthetic survey o f the post-w ar (1945 - 1958) history
o f eastern Arab countries and is arranged in five chapters. The first chapter “The
Arab East betw een the two W orld W ars” represents a broad introduction in the
post-w ar developm ents and contains the following themes: The Arab East after the
collapse o f the O ttom an Em pire; European pow er and the unequal treaties; The
French m andate in Levant; The British mandate in Palestine; British suprem acy in
Iraq; D evelopm ents in the A rabian Peninsula; Arab unity and the League o f Arab
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