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The Sassoons were one of the great business dynasties of the
nineteenth century, as eminent as traders as the Rothschilds were
bankers. This book reveals the secrets behind the family's
phenomenal success: how a handful of Jewish exiles from Ottoman
Baghdad forged a mercantile juggernaut from their new home in
colonial Bombay, the vast network of agents, informants and
politicians they built, and the way they came to bridge East and
West, culturally as well as commercially. Through the lives these
ambitious figures built for themselves, the reader is drawn into a
captivating world of politics and power, innovation and intrigue,
high society and empire. The Global Merchants is thus at once a
portrait of a single family and a panorama of the hundred and
thirty years of their prominence: from the Opium Wars to the
American Civil War, the establishment of the British Raj to India's
independence. Together these give a fresh perspective on one of the
defining forces of their age and the present: globalization. The
Sassoons were variously its agents, advocates and casualties, and
watching them moving through the world, we perceive the making of
our own.
First Published in 1987. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor &
Francis, an informa company.
First Published in 1987. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor &
Francis, an informa company.
The astonishing story of the Sassoons, one of the nineteenth
century's preeminent commercial families and 'the Rothschilds of
the East' The Sassoons were one of the great business dynasties of
the nineteenth century, as eminent as traders as the Rothschilds
were bankers. This book reveals the secrets behind the family's
phenomenal success: how a handful of Jewish exiles from Ottoman
Baghdad forged a mercantile juggernaut from their new home in
colonial Bombay, the vast network of agents, informants and
politicians they built, and the way they came to bridge East and
West, culturally as well as commercially. As one competitor
remarked, 'silver and gold, silks, gums and spices, opium and
cotton, wool and wheat - whatever moves over sea or land feels the
hand or bears the mark of Sassoon & Co.' Drawing for the first
time on the vast family archives, Joseph Sassoon brings vividly to
life a succession of remarkable characters. From a single
generation: Flora, the first woman to steer a major global
business, Siegfried, the poet, and Victor, the tycoon who drew the
stars of Hollywood's silent era to his skyscraper in Shanghai.
Through the lives these ambitious figures built for themselves in
London, Bombay and beyond, the reader is drawn into a captivating
world of politics and power, innovation and intrigue, high society
and empire. The Global Merchants is thus at once an intimate
portrait of a single family and a panorama of the hundred and
thirty years of their prominence: from the Opium Wars and opening
of China to the American Civil War, the establishment of the
British Raj to India's independence. Together these give a fresh
perspective on the evolution of one of the defining forces of their
age and the present: globalization. The Sassoons were variously its
agents, advocates and casualties, and watching them moving through
the world, we perceive the making of our own.
Since 2003, over 4 million Iraqis have been forced to flee their
homes, in what amounts to one of the largest people movements in
modern times, far exceeding the Palestinian outflow after 1948.
Despite media reports of an improved security situation in Iraq,
the majority of refugees are still afraid to return. The social,
economic, political and security consequences of such an event are
huge. In this rigorous and timely book, Joseph Sassoon explores the
underlying trends of Iraq's refugee flow: which class, ethnic and
sectarian groups are going where and how. Based on extensive
original research, he examines the economic impact of this exodus
on Iraq itself, and on the host countries of the region: Jordan,
Syria and Lebanon. He analyzes international policy on the refugee
issue, and assesses the options for return and resettlement. "The
Iraqi Refugees" is the first definitive guide to what will come to
be seen as one of the most significant issues affecting the Middle
East.
In the years since the US-led invasion of Iraq, over 4 million
Iraqis have been forced to flee their homes, in what amounts to one
of the largest people movements in modern times, far exceeding the
Palestinian outflow after 1948. Despite media reports of an
improved security situation in Iraq, the majority of refugees are
still not prepared to return. The social, economic, political and
security consequences of the Iraq refugee crisis are huge. In this
rigorous and timely book, Joseph Sassoon explores the underlying
trends of Iraq's refugee flow: which class, ethnic and sectarian
groups have gone -- and are continuing to go -- where and how.
Based on extensive original research, he examines the economic
impact of this exodus on Iraq itself, and on the host countries of
the region: Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. He analyzes international
policy on the refugee issue, and assesses the options for return
and resettlement. "The Iraqi Refugees" is both the first and the
definitive guide to what will come to be seen as one of the most
significant issues affecting the entire Middle East.
By examining the system of authoritarianism in eight Arab
republics, Joseph Sassoon portrays life under these regimes and
explores the mechanisms underpinning their resilience. How did the
leadership in these countries create such enduring systems? What
was the economic system that prolonged the regimes' longevity, but
simultaneously led to their collapse? Why did these seemingly
stable regimes begin to falter? This book seeks to answer these
questions by utilizing the Iraqi archives and memoirs of those who
were embedded in these republics: political leaders, ministers,
generals, security agency chiefs, party members, and business
people. Taking a thematic approach, the book begins in 1952 with
the Egyptian Revolution and ends with the Arab uprisings of 2011.
It seeks to deepen our understanding of the authoritarianism and
coercive systems that prevailed in these countries and the
difficult process of transition from authoritarianism that began
after 2011.
The Ba'th Party came to power in 1968 and remained for thirty-five
years, until the 2003 US invasion. Under the leadership of Saddam
Hussein, who became president of Iraq in 1979, a powerful
authoritarian regime was created based on a system of violence and
an extraordinary surveillance network, as well as reward schemes
and incentives for supporters of the party. The true horrors of
this regime have been exposed for the first time through a massive
archive of government documents captured by the United States after
the fall of Saddam Hussein. It is these documents that form the
basis of this extraordinarily revealing book and that have been
translated and analyzed by Joseph Sassoon, an Iraqi-born scholar
and seasoned commentator on the Middle East. They uncover the
secrets of the innermost workings of Hussein's Revolutionary
Command Council, how the party was structured, how it operated via
its network of informers and how the system of rewards functioned.
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