{"product_id":"9781839763694-arid-empire","title":"Arid Empire","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Entangled Fates of Arizona and Arabia\u003cbr\u003eA revelatory new history of the colonization of the American West, by way of camels, date palms, and Biosphere 2\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e**Longlisted for the 2023 Cundill History Prize**\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe iconic deserts of the American southwest could not have been colonized and settled without the help of desert experts from the Middle East. For example:  In 1856, a caravan of thirty-three camels arrived in Indianola, Texas\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003eled  by a Syrian cameleer the Americans called \"Hi Jolly.\" This \"camel  corps,\" the US government hoped, could help the army secure the new  southwest swath of the country just wrested from Mexico. Though the  dream of the camel corps - and sadly, the camels - died, the idea of  drawing on expertise, knowledge, and practices from the desert countries  of the Middle East did not. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs Natalie Koch demonstrates in  this evocative, narrative history, the exchange of colonial technologies  between the Arabian Peninsula and United States over the past two  centuries - from date palm farming and desert agriculture to the utopian  sci-fi dreams of Biosphere 2 and Frank Herbert's \u003ci\u003eDune\u003c\/i\u003e - bound  the two regions together, solidifying the colonization of the US West  and, eventually, the reach of American power into the Middle East. Koch  teaches us to see deserts anew, not as mythic sites of romance or empty  wastelands but as an \"arid empire,\" a crucial political space  where imperial dreams coalesce.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56451604152694,"sku":"9781839763694","price":16.62,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/stand_34463993.jpg?v=1760463147","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781839763694-arid-empire","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}