Subject: Religion

The Berbers and the Islamic States
Book cover: The Berbers and the Islamic State
Shatzmiller, Maya

Subject: Africa, Middle East, Religion

Medieval Fez was a main center of education, art, and commerce from the 13th to the 16th centuries after the Berber tribe of the Marinids seized power in Morocco and moved the capital from Marrakesh to Fez. As non-Arabs, they …

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The Golden Age of Islam
The Golden Age of Islam book cover
Lombard, Maurice

Subject: Middle East, Religion

In this book, Maurice Lombard portrays the Islamic world as the center of civilization at a time when the West was primitive and backward. Its reach extended from Córdoba to Samarkand, and it maintained and developed the tradition of wealth, …

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The Heritage of Central Asia: From Antiquity to the Turkish Expansion
Yellow cover of The Heritage of Central Asia
Frye, Richard N.

Subject: Asia

Central Asia in ancient and medieval times was the crossroads of civilization, connecting China with the West. What we now call Central Asia was part of the empires conquered by Cyrus, Alexander the Great, Timur, and their successors during antiquity …

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The History of Islamic Theology
Blue book cover: The History of Islamic Theology
Nagel, Tilman (translated by Thomas Thornton)

Subject: Middle East, Religion

The book presents Muslim beliefs about God’s relationship to humans by drawing on relevant Islamic sources from Muhammad to modern times. In connection with the social and political history of Islam, the reader is introduced to the central ideas and …

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The Islamic Middle East and Japan: Perceptions, Aspirations, and the Birth of Intra-Asian Modernity
Book cover: The Islamic Middle East and Japan
Worringer, Renée, editor

Subject: Asia, Middle East, Religion, World history

Iranian and Ottoman travelers to Japan in the late nineteenth century found a model to admire — a culture that was beginning to take its place in the modern world without sacrificing its traditional culture. Their admiration was bolstered when …

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The Kurds: A Divided Nation in Search of a State (2019 Edition)
Book cover: Kurdish female fighters
Gunter Michael M.

Subject: Middle Eastern History, Middle East

Donald Trump betrayed the Kurds, America’s most reliable allies in the fight against ISIS, by announcing in a tweet that US troops would withdraw from Syria. Betrayal is nothing new in Kurdish history, especially by Western powers. The Kurds, a …

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The Last Great Muslim Empires: History of the Muslim World
Book cover: The Last Great Muslim Empires
Kissling, Hans J. et al. (translated and adapted by F.R.C. Bagley)

Subject: Middle East, Religion, World History

“Islamic history feeds into world history … Islamic civilization became a global phenomenon, for example, in its capacity to receive and absorb culture from one end of the world and then pass it on to other parts of the world. …

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The Mongol Period: History of the Muslim World
Mongol Period book cover warrior illustration
Spuler, Bertold (introduction by Arthur Waldron)

Subject: Middle East, Religion

First published by E.J. Brill (The Netherlands) in 1969 as Geschichte der Islamischen Länder, this volume is still one of the few studies to deal — authoritatively, comprehensively, and clearly to the non-specialist — with the Mongols. It provides a …

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The Shiites: A Short History
Book cover: "The Shiites" featuring illuminated shrine
Halm, Heinz (translated by Allison Brown)

Subject: Middle East, Religion,

Combining history, comparative religion, and political interpretations, Heinz Halm elucidates Shi’ism and political developments in the Middle East for the uninformed reader. The author highlights three main aspects of Shi’a Islam: its historical development, especially the history of the Imans; …

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The Travels of Ibn Battuta to India, the Spice Islands, and China
The Travels of Ibn Battuta book cover
Ibn Battuta, author; King, Noël Q., translator; Butters, Albion, M., editor

Subject: Middle Eastern History, World History, Asia, India, China, Religion

The era in which Ibn Baṭṭūṭa traveled to the East was exciting but turbulent, cursed by the Black Plague and the fall of mighty dynasties. His chronicle provides a first-hand account of increased globalization due to the rise of …

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