History of Arab Peoples: Amazon.co.uk: Albert Hourani: 9780446393928: Books

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Synopsis

Chronicles the history of Arab civilization, looking at the beauty of the great mosques, the importance attached to education, the achievements of Arab science, the role of women, internal conflicts, and the Palestinian question.

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First Sentence
The world of Ibn Khaldun must have seemed everlasting to most of those who belonged to it, but he himself knew that it had replaced an earlier one. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

3.6 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)

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39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction to Arab history, 8 Dec 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A History of the Arab Peoples (Hardcover)

Without doubt this is the best introductory book I have read on the subject of Arab history. Hourani's book is highly informative yet also very readable. The book covers Arab history over a timeline starting from pre-Islamic times right up to recent events in the 1980's and serves as a superb introduction for anyone with an interest in this area of the world. The book studies many aspects of life in detail. For those who are using this study as starting point, will find that Hourani gives them much to think about and provides many refernces for further research. The book also contains useful maps, timelines and family trees. The topic area is vast but Hourani has made skilful inrodes into it leaving the reader feeling informed about the Arab people both past and present.

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, 14 July 2008

By

Gogol (England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: A History of the Arab Peoples (Paperback)

This book should be (and is in some Universities) mandatory for the study of the Middle East in general and Arab peoples specifically.

Written by Albert Hourani one of the great scholars of the Middle East it is both concise and comprehensive covering centuries of history while presenting the reader with enough detail that they do not feel that they are being cheated by the author skimming over the most important events in history.

The book begins with the beginnings of the Islamic faith and the Islamic empire covering this in rather short chapters before moving onto the Abbasids. While some may feel this is a slightly inappropriate place to start (others Hitti for example, begin with pre Islamic times) It seems Hourani has taken into account much of the Western view that the Middle East has been shaped by Islam and thus, his book should begin where it begins.

The book covers matters of the politics and structure of the various Islamic empires, the culture and arts of these empires, religious sects and revolts and life both in rural areas and in the built up cities. The impact of the west and the Ottoman empire are also given extensive coverage.

While there are several respected writers on Middle Eastern history I have always personally preferred Houranis books. I have found him honest and impartial when dealing with sensitive issues of history not least modern history

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, unconventional history, 27 Oct 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A History of the Arab Peoples (Paperback)

This is a really good grounding in the history of the region stretching from Morocco to Turkey, encompassing 1400 ish years of history. The approach is refreshing in that it concentrates on culture and society and regards historical events from that perspective, considering specific wars etc as examples of a trend rather than focussing on them to the expense of everything else. It is also written from a nicely none western perspective, with developments elsewhere in the world being regarded as incidental to the main stream of history. Overall, very very good.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully descriptive
The challenge that Albert Hourani was attempting was no simple matter, however, he's had a marvellous go at it. Read more

Published 12 months ago by Wassim