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In the shadow of the sword : the birth of Islam and the rise of the global Arab empire / Tom Holland.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: New York : Doubleday, c2012.Edition: 1st U.S. edDescription: x, 526 p. : col. ill. ; 25 cmISBN:
  • 0385531354 (alk. paper)
  • 9780385531351 (alk. paper)
Subject(s):
Contents:
pt. I. Introduction. Known unknowns -- pt. II. Jahiliyya. Iranshahr ; New Rome ; The children of Abraham ; Countdown to apocalypse -- pt. III. Hijra. More questions than answers ; The forging of Islam -- Envoi: plus c̜a change? -- Timeline -- Dramatis personae.
Summary: "The remarkable story of an imperial civilization that endures as perhaps the only one to have survived from antiquity into the present day. No less significant than the collapse of the Roman Republic or the Persian invasion of Greece, the evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narratives of ancient history, a story of manifest destiny that is dazzlingly rich in drama, character, and achievement. Just like the Romans, the Arabs came from nowhere; yet by 632, when the Prophet Muhammad is supposed to have died, all the tribes of the Arabian peninsula had come to acknowledge the authority of his teachings. During the next two hundred years, they carved out a stupefyingly vast dominion, overcoming seemingly insuperable odds to emerge triumphant against the greatest empire of the day."--Book cover.
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Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 956.013 H737 Available 33111006985093
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The acclaimed author of Rubicon and other superb works of popular history now produces a thrillingly panoramic (and incredibly timely) account of the rise of Islam.
 
No less significant than the collapse of the Roman Republic or the Persian invasion of Greece, the evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narratives of ancient history, a story dazzlingly rich in drama, character, and achievement.  Just like the Romans, the Arabs came from nowhere to carve out a stupefyingly vast dominion--except that they achieved their conquests not over the course of centuries as the Romans did but in a matter of decades. Just like the Greeks during the Persian wars, they overcame seemingly insuperable odds to emerge triumphant against the greatest empire of the day--not by standing on the defensive, however, but by hurling themselves against all who lay in their path.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 481-507) and index.

pt. I. Introduction. Known unknowns -- pt. II. Jahiliyya. Iranshahr ; New Rome ; The children of Abraham ; Countdown to apocalypse -- pt. III. Hijra. More questions than answers ; The forging of Islam -- Envoi: plus c̜a change? -- Timeline -- Dramatis personae.

"The remarkable story of an imperial civilization that endures as perhaps the only one to have survived from antiquity into the present day. No less significant than the collapse of the Roman Republic or the Persian invasion of Greece, the evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narratives of ancient history, a story of manifest destiny that is dazzlingly rich in drama, character, and achievement. Just like the Romans, the Arabs came from nowhere; yet by 632, when the Prophet Muhammad is supposed to have died, all the tribes of the Arabian peninsula had come to acknowledge the authority of his teachings. During the next two hundred years, they carved out a stupefyingly vast dominion, overcoming seemingly insuperable odds to emerge triumphant against the greatest empire of the day."--Book cover.

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