ENGLISH

Witnesses to a World Crisis: Historians and Histories of the Middle East in the Seventh Century

By James Howard-Johnston

Book information

Year
2010
ISBN
019920859X, 9780199208593, 0191576085, 9780191576089
Open Library ID
OL25156025M
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
9 MB (9593423 bytes)
Pages
500\610
Topic
History
Time added
2011-06-04 13:46:07

Description

James Howard-Johnston provides a sweeping and highly readable account of probably the most dramatic single episode in world history - the emergence of a new religion (Islam), the destruction of two established great powers (Roman and Iranian), and the creation of a new world empire by the Arabs, all in the space of not much more than a generation (610-52 AD). Warfare looms large, especially where operations can be followed in some detail, as in Iraq 636-40, in Egypt 641-2 and in the long-drawn out battle for the Mediterranean (649-98). As the first history of the formative phase of Islam to be grounded in the important non-Islamic as well as Islamic sources Witnesses to a World Crisis is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand Islam as a religion and political force, the modern Middle East, and the jihadist impulse, which is as evident today as it was in the seventh century.

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