Multiple transliterations exist of Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and other place and personal names. Gamal Abdel Nasser may be written as Gamal Abd el-Nasr, Gamal ‘abd-an-Nasir, and further variations. It is Jamal Abdul Nassir in some texts, though “Jamal” is misleading for English speakers: the Arabic letter jīm (ج), pronounced like an English j by many Arabic speakers, is pronounced in Egypt as a hard g (as in “get”). Places in Israel or the Palestinian territories often have different transliterations reflecting usage in Arabic and Hebrew: Qibya/Kibbiya, Kafr Qasim/Kfar Kassem.
It is impossible to be entirely consistent, so the transliterations most common in 1956 English-language sources have been preferred. Some of these have now fallen out of use—for instance, Peking is now universally known as Beijing. It is hoped that the forms used, even if outdated, reflect the tone of the time and are more consistent with the sources quoted. Where quotes use a different spelling, it has not been changed.
The “Arabs” and “Arab world” referred to in this book are defined as they commonly were in 1956, though many people living in those areas then and now are not Arabs. The Arab world was broadly defined linguistically but formed a diverse cultural and political entity. It included the Arabic-speaking territories of North Africa and the Middle East. Iran and Turkey, where Persian (Farsi) and Turkish are spoken respectively, are not and were not Arab, though they do comprise part of the Middle East. Pakistan is neither Arab nor part of the Middle East, but joined the regional defense alliance known as the Baghdad Pact along with Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and the United Kingdom.
Hungarian names are written with the surname before the first name: Nagy Imre rather than Imre Nagy. When writing in English, Hungarians usually reverse this to conform with Western conventions. This book follows their lead.
When researching a book that covers history one day at a time, it soon becomes clear that sources disagree on the precise dates and times of events. Wherever possible, the dates given in this book have been verified with archival documents and daily newspapers, but sometimes different witnesses have conflicting memories that are impossible to resolve.