Dawn Chatty 
From Camel to Truck 

A new edition of Dawn Chatty’s seminal 1986 study of the Bedouin of Lebanon and Syria, which investigates the community’s meshing of modernity and tradition as manifested in the transition from camel to truck as primary means of transport. This is a classic and comprehensive study of cultural endurance and radical change in the Arabian desert, in which the author examines contemporary Bedouin society of Lebanon and Syria in the contexts of history, economy and political and moral culture. She details the consequences of motorized transport for this community — and she draws some surprising conclusions about its future viability.