Customer Reviews

History of the Arabs, Revised: 10th Edition

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I sympathize with reviewers who were offended by this book. There are, especially towards the beginning of the book, some generalizations that make me wince. And Hitti's vocabulary is full of obsolete ethnographic and anthropological terms that raise ugly associations with colonial racial ideas. Hitti wrote with the simplicity of scholars before multiculturalism and postmodernism, for whom the peoples of the world were specimens to be analyzed without regard to cultural sensitivity. Other scholars with encyclopedic knowledge of the Arabic peoples from Hitti's time were prone to generalizations: H. G. Farmer, who wrote the definitive book on Arabian music, was prone to say things like "As with all the Semites . . ."

But while Hitti may not have the cultural sensitivity of today's writers, his depth of knowledge is astonishing, and he writes beautifully. Where Hourani tells us relatively vaguely how things happened over centuries, Hitti shows us the singers of Medina, the philosophers of Baghdad, the slaves of Persia. Where Hourani's book is a good history, Hitti's book is also a work of art. Yes, be advised that Hitti's work is riddled with obsolete ideas, but also be aware that the very richness of his account argues against any stereotypes that he might have professed.

For a long time Hourani and Hittis books were the standard reads for anyone wishing to have a book that would provide them with a brief introduction to Arab history. Even so, traditionally Hittis has been advised to approach with caution due to a number of errors that anyone with knowledge of Arab and/or Middle Eastern history would be able to discover.

I must say I found it interesting that two previous reviewers received so many negative points on their reviews especially one that did nothing more than point out the inaccuracies of the book. I can only assume that those who placed a negative to that review are unhappy with the fact that Hittis shortcomings as a scholar are so easily discovered that an amazon customer can find them.

That religion should not be an issue regarding this book is obvious. Both Hitti and Hourani are Arab Christians from Lebanon. Both taught in the United States and both published their books primarily aimed at an American audience.

I find however, a difference between the two men is that Hitti appears to have sacrificed scholarship for popularity and his book rather panders to established stereotypes rather than fact. For Hittis book never shys away from his staunch Lebanese nationalism so much so that reading the first few chapters of the book can become tiresome at reading such nonsense. If one wants to believe in a Lebanon cradle of civilization then so be it but please don't try and impose your opinions on us who are neither interested or care.

Hittis book provides the reader with a history of the Arabs from their bedouin origins through to the birth of Muhammad and the rise of the Islamic religion, the Islamic conquests and great Islamic empires of the Umayyads and Abbasids. As usual with popular books of this kind it deals briefly with Islamic Spain and Sicily.

Also typical to these kinds of books a brief history of the crusades is given where Hitti considers it an era of cross pollination of cultures a sort of first 'East meets West' That there were Arab and Turkish quarters in Constantinople (a traveller to Istanbul today can see the resting place of Arab diplomats from those early centuries) and in Russia. That until the 9th or 10th century Andalusia was not even predominantly Muslim are all fact ignored.

The Mamaluks are seen as an extension of Arabism (Even though they were Turks!) In the face of 'Turkish' Ottoman rule. The rise of Western powers, colonialism, renaissance of Arab thought etc all the usual that one may expect from a book published many decades ago. The problem is this book has been republished numerous times so you would expect someone to have edited and ironed out the obvious faults in this book.

An old and rather out of date book. You can find a lot better (Such as Houranis) if you want a brief history of the Arab peoples.

My Experience so far in reading and understanding other people's religious beliefs has increase tremendously, it i always good to be versatile so as to keep up. The book "History of the Arabs" has helped to understand beyond all mediocre readings.

Thanks for availing me the opportunity of buying at my finger tips.
Warm Regards
Banky

This is one of the best popular works about the Arabs. Given that it was written several decades ago, many attitudes have been disproven and new research has added to our understanding, but the overwhelming majority of this book is still valid. It is written in an acedemic and readable manner. This is Philip Hitti's magnum opus, and it is a great one.

I have to give the author credit for research and hard work. Unfortunately I was hoping that when an author writes in the title of his book "History", we will find history without personnal opinions. Every now and then when he gets a chance to misrepresent Islam he does it in a very subtle way. Writing about previous History should be far from emotional and personal feelings, otherwise call the book my view about Arabs. This was also mentioned by a previous reviewer who listed a couple of mispresentations from the Quran. I studied the Area and the Quran so I do have some background, and I would hate for anyone to get a misrepresented History of this Area and Time period from this book.

History of the arabs, the name seems quite unique, as there can be history of a race or a history of a time or history of third reich or saracens etc etc
once a history book is written i wonder what is in there to be edited 10 times? what prompted so many changes?? reprinting is ok
As the author points out that the book has been written in response to 'a short history of saracens' by Ammer Ali which as per him stands 'obsolete'it is not known why.
references to the holy quran mentioned in the book are not correct
pp 99---------2;100 is there instead on 106
---------------14:40---------------------14:36
pp 99------------2:100 ................2:105
the verse is regarding the abrogation of a verse and revealing a better or a similar one which the author has mis interpreted and gave an oblique view of it
pp103--------47:16,17 is there instead of 47:15
knowledge and interpretation of the quran of the author are excellent but oftenly distorted as ..comparing paradise to a place in arabia (taif)
pp174
"in art and architecture, in philosophy, in medicene, in science and literature, in governement, the 'original arabians' had nothing to teach and everything to learn"
further he states
"In ctesiphon, edessa,nisibis, damascus, jerusalem,etc etc they (arabs) viewed and copied the work of architect, the artisan, the jeweller and the manufacturer"
not a single non moslem architect, jeweller etc has been named
chapter 21
the invaders from the desert brought with them no tradition of learning, no heritage of culture?? to the lands they conquered
(this is incorrect)
the comparison of the quranic verses to the 'old testament' is excellent
the author has laid immense stress in depicting the words in the quran are 'borrowed' from old testament and formerly holy books

hittians are a very old tribe in the arab land and to this day regret their ancestors converting to Islam excepting a very few who are now the druzes and maronites in the lebanon
the author being orthodox christian has attributed the fall of syria iraq eygpt etc to the internal squabbles in the countries and their religion (christianity) rather than the sacrificing spirits of the saracens at that time
the author no doubt has done ample research to write the book, but a history of a race cannot be written in a few hundred pages,
the author could have done a better job had he been non parochial and not confined his clientele to a selected few as the the comments have been indicated by New York times, as if for a novel or a fiction by some sundry author