محمد نويلاتي وكتابه الرائع الجديد!

The new book "Epidemics and the Struggle for Influence in Jeddah" by Dr. Muhammad Anwar Muslim Nawalati, the writer and historian Dr. Muhammad Anwar Muslim Nawalati, traces the history of epidemics in Jeddah and their impact on the struggles for political, social, and economic influence in the city throughout the ages. It is described as an exceptional research work that opens the doors of history to important milestones that have not been addressed with such depth before.

This book follows his previous successful works such as: Jeddah and the Genius of Place, Jeddah and Our Mother Eve, Jeddah and Others.

The book is highly praised in Saudi cultural circles for its solid style and meticulous research.

Specialization is a very important characteristic of distinguished individuals in their fields. The distinguished historian has firmly established his name as one of the respected references for the history of the city of Jeddah with his rigorous scientific style and high professional methodology.

The book accurately and intriguingly describes how the city of Jeddah was caught between the hammer of epidemics coming from outside and the anvil of international conflicts that made health reports and quarantine measures tools of pressure and bargaining methods. The author does not forget to address the roles of civil society in mutual aid in facing crises. The diseases and epidemics that have swept through the city of Jeddah throughout history were not merely health events that passed unnoticed; rather, they were at the heart of the great industrial revolution and the rise of steam navigation and the increasing powers of Western colonialism, serving as strategic tools to tighten control, expand influence, and effectively and decisively establish authority.

The author presents an engaging and captivating analytical reading of one of the most important and complex periods in the history of the city of Jeddah, specifically during the 19th century and the early 20th century, to explain to the reader how various health events became focal points for geopolitical tensions of utmost importance and seriousness.

The author demonstrates, through meticulous examination of documents, records, and very rare sources, how the major colonial powers, led by Britain, were striving to exploit the idea of "health risk" to pilgrims as a pretext for intervention and the implementation of quarantine systems, attempting to internationalize the pilgrimage under the guise of protecting global health, during a time of weakness for the Ottoman Empire and the erosion of its influence. The writer astonishingly and convincingly shows that the history of diseases and epidemics in Jeddah was never far from the tensions, disputes, and conflicts of the warring international parties, and this did not change until after the Saudi era, which established very strong and firmly rooted foundations for effective, safe, and stable health systems and the protection of the Two Holy Mosques from any external interventions. The book is enjoyable, beautiful, and an important qualitative addition to the Arabic library.