The first major study of the relationship between army and society in the early Islamic period, which reveals the pivotal role of the military in politics and offers a timely reassessment of the early Islamic State.
This collection of articles offers new insights into warfare and its impact on medieval society, analyzing social and economic issues, military strategy, technology, medical developments, ideology and rhetoric, and addressing warfare in Europe, the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim world.
"The breath of reading is astounding, the knowledge displayed is awe-inspiring and the attention quietly given to critical theory and the postmodern questioning of evidence is both careful and sincere."--The Daily Telegraph (UK) "A superlative work of historical scholarship."--Literary Review (UK) A unique and enlightening look at Europe's so-called Dark Ages; the second volume in the Penguin History of Europe Defying the conventional Dark Ages view of European history between A.D. 400 and 1000, award-winning historian Chris Wickham presents The Inheritance of Rome, a work of remarkable scope and rigorous yet accessible scholarship. Drawing on a wealth of new material and featuring a thoughtful synthesis of historical and archaeological approaches, Wickham agues that these centuries were critical in the formulation of European identity. From Ireland to Constantinople, the Baltic to the Mediterranean, the narrative constructs a vivid portrait of the vast and varied world of Goths, Franks, Vandals, Arabs, Saxons, and Vikings. Groundbreaking and full of fascinating revelations, The Inheritance of Rome offers a fresh understanding of the crucible in which Europe would ultimately be created.
Li Yunfan had bought a second-hand computer with an ordinary 'Three Sans Sans Diaos'. It was actually a communication device used by deities! His life had undergone a tremendous change! If you have nothing to do, do it with a fairy! Take advantage of Chang'e when you're bored! Since he didn't have the money to buy immortal pills, he might as well sell a bag of spicy gluten! King of Hell, Jade Emperor heard Li Yunfan's name and started trembling, crying as he hugged Li Yunfan's leg. "Brother Li, give me another packet of spicy gluten!"
Examines the fall of the Syrian Umayyad caliphate and the rise of the 'Abbasid state, predominantly from the view of the local inhabitants of medieval Syria.
Volume One of The New Cambridge History of Islam, which surveys the political and cultural history of Islam from its Late Antique origins until the eleventh century, brings together contributions from leading scholars in the field. The book is divided into four parts. The first provides an overview of the physical and political geography of the Late Antique Middle East. The second charts the rise of Islam and the emergence of the Islamic political order under the Umayyad and the Abbasid caliphs of the seventh, eighth and ninth centuries, followed by the dissolution of the empire in the tenth and eleventh. 'Regionalism', the overlapping histories of the empire's provinces, is the focus of Part Three, while Part Four provides a cutting-edge discussion of the sources and controversies of early Islamic history, including a survey of numismatics, archaeology and material culture.
In a searching challenge to the paradigm of medieval Christian dualism, this study reenvisions the Paulicians as largely conventional Christians engendered by complex socio-religious forces in the borderlands of Armenia and Asia Minor.
This sweeping history reorients our understanding of the Middle East, placing the Gulf at the heart of globalized trade and cross-cultural encounters. World history began in the Persian Gulf. The ancient port cities that dotted its coastlines created the first global seaboard, a place from where faiths and cultures from around the world set sail and made contact. More than a history, The Center of the World shows us that contradictions that define our modern age have always been present. For over four thousand years, the Gulf—sometimes called the Persian Gulf, sometimes the Arabian Gulf—has been a global crossroads while managing to avoid control by the world’s greatest empires. In its history, we see a world of rapid change, fluctuating centers of trade, a dependency on uncertain global markets, and intense cross-cultural encounters that hold a mirror to the contemporary world. Focusing each chapter on a different port around the Gulf, The Center of the World shows how the people of the Gulf adapted to larger changes in world history, creating a system of free trade, merchant rule, and commerce that continues to define the region today.