Usman Butt is multimedia television researcher, filmmaker and writer based in London. Usman read International Relations and Arabic Language at the University of Westminster and completed a Master of Arts in Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter.
Book Club: Every culture and civilisation has had to wrestle with the question 'who and what do we trust?'. In this expansive, interdisciplinary study of medieval authority and belief, Peter Adamson looks back in time to look forward to the future.
Book Club: The largest land-based empire of all time, the Mongols conquered territory indiscriminately, including the Arab and Muslim civilisations of the Near East. But how did the two worlds interact, and did they end up learning from each other?
Book Club: As Tunisia descends deeper into Kais Saied's dictatorship, David L Johnson's translation of Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi's 1993 manifesto for a modern, reformist Islam is a stark reminder of what Tunisia was versus what it now is.
Book Club: Seldom do we read a first-hand account of the deception, radicalisation and atrocities of the Islamic State group. In the Shadow of Daesh by Sophie Kasiki is just that, unveiling the insidious work of IS from the perspective of a returnee.
Book Club: Award-winning investigative journalist Tam Hussein's debut novel deals with the question all journalists are familiar with: where does the line of ethical consideration lie? Well-written and deeply evocative, the novel is a stellar read.
Book Club: Marc Owen Jones' latest book uncovers the virtual tactics used by authoritarian governments in the Middle East to discourage and deceive those away from uncovering the systematic abuses of power that continue to plague the region.
Book Club: A key treatise for the philosophy of yoga, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a foundational handbook for millions of yoga practitioners. Little is known however about the text's author, Al-Biruni, whose service to Indology is invaluable.
Book Club: Victoria Malko's book exposes the brutal methods used by Stalinist Russia to crush Ukrainian nationalist dissent. In the midst of Putin's invasion, the book is a timely reminder one can often predict the present by looking into the past.
Book Club: Gilbert Achcar's re-issued book traces the development of the Arab Uprisings, and posits their future prospects. In particular, its multi-faceted analysis and pinpoint precision of social phenomena make the book an important body of work.
Book Club: Research into the Circassian's role within the Ottoman Empire has been largely muted since the establishment of the Turkish Republic by Ataturk in 1923. In Caner Yelbasi's latest book, he examines the ethnic group's varied engagements.
