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This concise depiction of the Islamic world features developments from the time of Muhammad and the rise of Islam in the seventh century to the complex political map of today. It clearly outlines and explains the major periods of Islam's phenomenal development and growth world-wide by focusing on the religious, cultural, and political achievements of the great Islamic Empires, including the golden age of the Abbasids in Baghdad, the Turkish Ottomans, and the Mughals of India. The book also features a chapter on medieval Muslim Spain. Special boxed sections provide informative snapshots of Islamic culture such as development of the Arabic language, architecture, and poetry. Included are more than 50 illustrations and maps.
In a narrative depicting the rise of Islam, Kirk Sowel presents a panoramic experience of the Arab peoples, whose world expanded from the Arabian Peninsula to include North Africa, the Levant and the Persian Gulf. The author concludes with an analysis of present-day challenges facing the Arab nations.
Long after Rome fell to the Germanic tribes, its culture lived on in Constantinople, the glittering capital of the Byzantine Empire. For more than 1000 yeras (AD 330-1453) Byzantium was one of the most advanced and complex civilisations the world had ever seen. As the Mediterranean outlet for the silk route, its trade networks stretched from Scandinavia to Sri Lanka; its artists created sombre icons and brilliant gold mosaics; its scholarship served as a vital cultural bridge between the Muslim East and the Catholic West; and it fostered the Orthodox Christianity that is the faith of millions today. This book shows the innovative art that inspired French kings and Arab emirs. It includes a gazetteer of historic Byzantine sites and monuments that travellers can visit today in greece, Italty, Turkey and the Middle East. A chronology of Byzantine history and a list of emperors complete this ideal resource for the student, traveller or generally curious reader.
Arizona is a fascinating land of lofty mountains, spectacular canyons, ponderosa forests, living deserts, great rivers, mighty dams, broad mesas, mines, ranches, farms and orchards -- a land of contrasts and contradictions, never fully understood, but always loved by those who know the state. In this inaugural volume, Patrick Lavin explores and illuminates this 'land of contrasts', whose history is varied and fascinating as its landscapes. Complemented by illustrations and photographs, this volume traces Arizona from the prehistoric days of the Paleo-Indians to its admission into the Union in 1912, and beyond into the twenty-first century.
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