ISLAM

The history of Islam and the Muslim world in one illustrated volume, from pre-Islamic Arabia to the present day.In 60 chapters this book follows the story of a faith and of the many societies that grew around it: Arabia before Islam, the life of the Prophet Muhammad as the earliest sources report it, the first caliphs, the Umayyads and the Abbasid golden age, the cities, schools and trade networks of the medieval world, the Turks, the Crusades and the Mongols, Islam in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires, and the modern world. It treats the Muslim world as many regions with their own histories, not a single block.The book also shows how people lived. Separate chapters describe how mosques, houses, markets, bridges and hospitals were built, how families ate, dressed, worked, studied and were buried, and how law, learning, trade and science developed.Care has been taken to separate what Muslim tradition holds from what historians can verify, to cite sources, and to treat conflict and conquest frankly and fairly. In keeping with Islamic practice, the illustrations show places, buildings, objects and ordinary people of later centuries, and never depict the Prophet, other prophets, angels or the early companions. Every chapter ends with The Historian’s Verdict on what the evidence shows. Appendices give rulers, a timeline, a guide to the evidence, a list of terms and a cast of people.