Islamic History [Paperback]

R. Stephen Humphreys (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0691008566 | ISBN-13: 978-0691008561 | Publication Date: August 12, 1991 | Edition: Revised

This book will be immensely helpful to those who wish to orient themselves to what has become a very large body of literature on medieval Islamic history. Combining a bibliographic study with an inquiry into method, it opens with a survey of the principal reference tools available to historians of Islam and a systematic review of the sources they will confront. Problems of method are then examined in a series of chapters, each exploring a broad topic in the social and political history of the Middle East and North Africa between A.D. 600 and 1500. The topics selected represent a cross-section of Islamic historical studies, and range from the struggles for power within the early Islamic community to the life of the peasantry. Each chapter pursues four questions. What concrete research problems are likely to be most challenging and productive? What resources do we possess for dealing with these problems? What strategies can we devise to exploit our resources most effectively? What is the current state of the scholarly literature for the topic under study?

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"This book is an extremely judicious `stock-taking' of scholarship in the field of medieval Islamic history, especially valuable for the way it examines--and forces us to reconsider--the assumptions on which previous scholarship has been based.... Students of Islamic studies will find it indispensable."--Fred M. Donner, University of Chicago

Product Details

• Paperback: 418 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press; Revised edition (August 12, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691008566
• ISBN-13: 978-0691008561
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #649,818 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars IMMENSELY Rewarding Purchase, October 1, 2003

By 

Tron Honto - See all my reviews

This review is from: Islamic History (Paperback)

This book is an essential reference for anyone with interest in doing any type of study in the history of Islam from 600-1500. Humphreys hasn't written yet another drab, stale survey book; rather, he compiled something immensely more useful. He has created a veritable inventory of scholarship, not coarsely comprehensive but pleasantly judicious, and accompanied it with a running commentary that places each work on the larger grid of modern scholarship on the subject as well and extrapolation of the various challenges realting thereto. In this way, it facilitates a critical yet broad engagement with the important scholarship hitherto written in the field helping us to refine, reconsider, and reshape the direction of future scholarship. Also, this work serves as an accessible point of entry for historians who specialize in areas other than Islamic history whom I trust will also find in plenty helpful.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great place to start your Islamic History, October 23, 2011

By 

Ameer Hamza Adhia (Karachi, Pakistan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Islamic History (Paperback)

If you ever wish to kick start your understanding of the vast corpus which is called Islamic history, this is the book to do it. Written by a preeminent scholar of Islamic studies this book is a gem. It's basic premise is to weed out the useless from useful texts; it informs you about the relevant texts for the fields within Islamic history which you will need to build up your results (for instance, this book tells you if you want to understand Muslims and Islam you need to study major Hadith books - and among them Bukhari should be the first place to start with). Such specific references alongwith publisher name and publishing year are really helpful. A scholar of the class of Bernard Lewis often cites this work as the first place to start with.

I personally found the text very readable and not cumbersome at all, which is generally the case with reference books on historical studies.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars LACKS EXPLANATIONS AND HISTORICAL BACKGOUND, April 17, 2011

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nathaniel1986 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Islamic History (Paperback)

This book is a poor choice for people who know little about islamic history. It is hard to follow and does not adequately explain central figures included in it's text. It's chronology and definitions are very poorly written.