General works
Overviews of all aspects of the country include Raphael Patai, The Kingdom of Jordan (1958, reprinted 1984); Helen Chapin Metz (ed.), Jordan: A Country Study, 4th ed. (1991); and Peter Gubser, Jordan: Crossroads of Middle Eastern Events (1983). Further resources may be found in Ian J. Seccombe (compiler), Jordan (1984), an annotated bibliography; and the bibliography in Peter Gubser, Historical Dictionary of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (1991).
Geography
Colbert C. Held and Mildred McDonald Held, Middle East Patterns: Places, Peoples, and Politics, 2nd ed. (1994), places Jordan in a larger context. Guy Mountfort, Portrait of a Desert (1965, reprinted 1969), gives an illustrated description of life in the desert of Jordan; while Rami G. Khouri, The Jordan Valley: Life and Society Below Sea Level (1981, reissued 1988), addresses agriculture and development on both sides of the river. Christine Osborne, An Insight and Guide to Jordan (1981), offers an overview of the landscape, society, and culture. Gerald Sparrow, Modern Jordan (1961), recounts the author’s travels. George L. Harris, Jordan: Its People, Its Society, Its Culture (1958), is a dated but still useful general reference book. A.H. Hourani, Minorities in the Arab World (1947, reprinted 1982), is a scholarly account of the various minority groups and their backgrounds. Studies in social anthropology include Richard T. Antoun, Arab Village: A Social Structural Study of a Transjordanian Peasant Community (1972, reissued 1977); Peter Gubser, Politics and Change in Al-Karak, Jordan: A Study of a Small Arab Town and Its District (1973, reissued 1985); and Paul A. Jureidini and R.D. McLaurin, Jordan: The Impact of Social Change on the Role of the Tribes (1984). Shelagh Weir, The Bedouin, new ed. (1990), provides an illustrated study of the arts and crafts of the Bedouin of Jordan. Norman N. Lewis, Nomads and Settlers in Syria and Jordan, 1800–1980 (1987), traces the shift from a grazing economy to a sedentary agricultural society. Economic and political conditions are addressed in Michael P. Mazur, Economic Growth and Development in Jordan (1979); Bichara Khader and Adnan Badran (eds.), The Economic Development of Jordan (1987), a collection of essays; Naseer H. Aruri, Jordan: A Study in Political Development (1921–1965) (1972); and Rodney Wilson (ed.), Politics and the Economy in Jordan (1991).History
The history of Jordan within the region is studied in William L. Cleveland, A History of the Modern Middle East, 2nd ed. (1999); and Arthur Goldschmidt, Jr., A Concise History of the Middle East, 6th ed. (1999). The most accessible general study of Jordanian history is Kamal Salibi, The Modern History of Jordan (1993, reissued 1998). Adnan Hadidi (ed.), Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan, 3 vol. (1982–87), contains detailed analyses of ancient and medieval history. Studies of Jordan at various points in its history include B.A. Toukan, A Short History of Trans-Jordan (1945); and Uriel Dann, Studies in the History of Transjordan, 1920–1949: The Making of a State (1984). Mary C. Wilson, King Abdullah, Britain, and the Making of Jordan (1987, reissued 1990); and Avi Shlaim, Collusion Across the Jordan: King Abdullah, the Zionist Movement, and the Partition of Palestine (1988), also available in rev. abridged ed., The Politics of Partition (1998), examine the role of King Abdullah at critical points in Jordan’s history. Amnon Cohen, Political Parties in the West Bank Under the Jordanian Regime, 1949–1967, (1982, originally published in Hebrew, 1980); Shaul Mishal, West Bank/East Bank: The Palestinians in Jordan, 1949–1967 (1978); and Clinton Bailey, Jordan’s Palestinian Challenge, 1948–1983: A Political History (1984), discuss Jordan and the Palestinians. P.J. Vatikiotis, Politics and the Military in Jordan: A Study of the Arab Legion, 1921–1957 (1967), outlines the historical influence of the military on Jordanian politics. Valerie Yorke, Domestic Politics and Regional Security: Jordan, Syria, and Israel (1988), examines Jordan’s domestic political dynamics. Madiha Rashid Al Madfai, Jordan, the United States, and the Middle East Peace Process, 1974–1991 (1993), explores Jordan’s diplomatic role.