City of Black Gold out now from Stanford University Press!

My book City of Black Gold: Oil, Ethnicity, and the Making of Modern Kirkuk is now available if purchased directly from Stanford University Press. (Its official release date if you order it elsewhere is May 28, 2019.) The price starts at $26 for the paperback and e-book editions.

In this book, I explore how oil and urbanization made ethnicity into a political practice in Kirkuk, a multilingual city that was the original hub of Iraq's oil industry. I find that, over the course of the twentieth century, Kirkuk transformed from a provincial town into a prominent symbol of urban modernity, developing a distinct civic identity. However, the city became segregated and polarized as a result of British neocolonialism, urban development schemes, the expansion of the oil industry, and Baghdad's systematic attempts to integrate Kirkuk into an Arabized Iraq. Today, claims to Kirkuk's identity, as in so many disputed cities, have become reduced to a zero-sum game between ethnic communities—a phenomenon that, far from being predictable or inevitable, requires a historical perspective to be fully understood.

Here is some of the advance praise for City of Black Gold:

"Based on extensive primary research, City of Black Gold is essential for anyone interested in the modern history of Iraq and the roots of the standoff between the government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan regional government. Written with care and sensitivity, Arbella Bet-Shlimon's history of Kirkuk is a delight to read."
—Joost Hiltermann, Middle East and North Africa Program Director, International Crisis Group


"This remarkable study of Kirkuk uncovers the ways in which the city became—and did not become—part of the Iraqi state. Arbella Bet-Shlimon bravely covers silenced histories, as she encourages us to look at Iraqi history through its northern urban peripheries. A fascinating urban history."
—Orit Bashkin, University of Chicago


"City of Black Gold is a masterful account of Kirkuk. Blending smooth storytelling and sharp analysis, Arbella Bet-Shlimon challenges readers to rethink much of what passes as conventional wisdom about Iraq, and about power, oil, and ethnicity in the twentieth century. A wonderful book, richly documented, accessible, and creative."
—Toby C. Jones, Rutgers University

To learn more about the book and to purchase it, click here.