Arab Conquests (The Landmark Library) (Hardcover)

Description

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The story of the seventh- and eighth-century Muslim conquests, when armies inspired by the new religion of Islam burst out of Arabia to build the Islamic Empire.

'This book delivers drama through sublime writing, but mainly through marvellous images ... As sharp as the Arabian desert in the midday sun' Gerard DeGroot, The Times

'An excellent prelude to Marozzi's previous books' Spectator

'Thoroughly good fun ... The narration moves swiftly but gracefully from episode to episode' Sunday Times

By the time of his death in 632, the Prophet Mohammed had united the feuding tribes of Arabia at the point of his sword. In the decades that followed, armies inspired by the new religion of Islam burst out of Arabia to subjugate the Levant, southwest and Central Asia, North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula.

The Arab Conquests lasted until 750, by which time several generations of marauding Muslim armies had carved out an Islamic empire, soon to be centered on Baghdad, which in size and population rivaled that of Rome at its zenith, extending from the shores of the Atlantic in the west to the borders of China in the east. In the process they had completely crushed one great empire (the old empire of Byzantium), and hollowed out another (that of the Iranian Sasanids).

These conquests of the seventh and eighth centuries represent one of the greatest feats of arms in history. Justin Marozzi charts their lightning progress across the Middle East and vast tracts of Asia and explains how an unknown and radically militant faith swept out of the Arabian desert to change the world forever.

About the Author

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Justin Marozzi has spent most of his professional life living and working in the Muslim world. A former Trustee of the Royal Geographical Society, he is the author of seven books, including the bestselling Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World and the Ondaatje Prize-winning Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood, which was praised by the judges as 'a truly monumental achievement'.

Praise For…

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"Delivers drama through fine writing, but also through marvellous images. In this beautiful book illustrations stir the imagination in a way that mere words cannot." —The Times 21 Best Books of 2021

'This book delivers drama through sublime writing, but mainly through marvellous images ... As sharp as the Arabian desert in the midday sun' The Times

'An excellent prelude to Marozzi's previous two books' Spectator

'Thoroughly good fun ... The narration moves swiftly but gracefully from episode to episode' Sunday Times

'This global turning point is brilliantly narrated by Justin Marozzi in his latest book, with over 100 illustrations ... Marozzi's sense of landscape, helped by photographs of the places described, many of which he knows well, and five appendices from different contemporary sources, gives The Arab Conquests particular immediacy and authenticity' Catholic Herald

'Spectacular images ... An ideal introduction for the casual reader who wants learn about the early Islamic conquests and the expansion of the caliphate ... A refreshing and fair retelling of arguably the most important and influential social upheaval of the Middle Ages' Middle East Monitor

“Marozzi is an accomplished and ambitious writer. . . . Like an erudite magpie, he gathers material from every available source—primary texts, both religious and historical, as well as a profusion of secondary ones—and weaves it all together with dexterity." ― Wall Street Journal on Islamic Empires