Field Notes The Making of Middle East Studies in the United States

"Zachary Lockman's labors in the foundation records make Field Notes a must read for understanding the history of the social sciences and the building of area studies. And his wry style and sharp, carefully drawn conclusions makes reading the book a true pleasure."-Robert Vitalis, University of Pennsylvania, author of White World Order, Black Power Politics: The Birth of American International Relations "Fair-minded, thorough, and thoughtful, Field Notes is essential reading for scholars in Middle East studies who want to learn the origins and fate of their field. With a broad vision and deep research, Zachary Lockman has much to teach anyone interested in the past, present, and future of international studies in the United States."-David Engerman, Brandeis University "In considering the creation of the interdisciplinary field of Middle East studies in the United States, Zachary Lockman provides a dystopic vision from the commanding heights of the war games planners and petroleum executives to 'the lower parts of Max Weber.' Bristling with ideas and criticisms, Field Notes deserves to be placed alongside the life cycles and vicissitudes of Latin America, East Asia and Africa area studies in the making and unmaking of the twentieth century American empire."-Edmund Burke III, University of California, Santa Cruz, author of The Ethnographic State: France and the Invention of Moroccan Islam