The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the Sixth to the Eleventh Century [Paperback]

Hugh Kennedy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 11, 1989 | ISBN-10: 0582493137 | ISBN-13: 978-0582493131 | Edition: 1

Dr Kennedy gives a full and clear account of the Near East in the formative period of Islamic society. Beginning with the life of Muhammad and the birth of Islam, he goes on to examine the great Arab conquests and the golden age of Islam from the eighth to the tenth centuries. The book closes with the period of political fragmentation in the tenth and eleventh centuries when the early unity was lost, never to be recovered.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"comprehensive and readable"Asian Affairs

From the Back Cover

The Near East and Islamic society have never been so close to the forefront of international attention. In this time of conflict the Western population is increasingly eager to increase their knowledge of the region¿s past. This updated edition of Hugh Kennedy¿s popular introduction to the history of the Near East is a timely aid to this quest for knowledge about the roots of Islam.

The Prophet and the Age of Caliphates

is an accessible guide to the history of the Near East from c.600-1050AD, the period in which Islamic society was formed. Beginning with the life of Muhammad and the birth of Islam, Kennedy goes on to explore the great Arab conquests of the seventh century and the golden age of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates when the world of Islam was politically and culturally far more developed than the West. A period of political fragmentation shattered this early unity, never to be recovered.

This new edition takes into account new research on early Islam and contains a fully updated bibliography. Based on extensive reading of the original Arabic sources, Kennedy breaks away from the Orientalist tradition of seeing early Islamic history as a series of ephemeral rulers and pointless battles by drawing attention to underlying long term social and economic processes.

This new edition deals with issues of continuing and increasing relevance in the twenty-first century, when it is, perhaps, more important than ever to understand the early development of the Islamic world. General readers and scholars of early Islamic history will find Kennedy¿s book a clear, informative and readable introduction to the subject.

Hugh Kennedy is Professor of Middle Eastern History at the University of St Andrews. Previous publications include Crusader Castles; Muslim Spain and Portugal; and Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the early Islamic State.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: Longman; 1 edition (January 11, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0582493137
• ISBN-13: 978-0582493131
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 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: #1,966,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, comprehensive overview, July 1, 2005

By 

William Bross "slugggy" (East Lansing, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the 6th to the 11th Century (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

Kennedy's work is a great introduction to the early history of the Middle East. I felt compelled to write this after I saw the other review, which complained of too many names being thrown around. It is a history book, and Arabic names are very different than English ones, so this is to be expected. It would be impossible and rather pointless to write a history book with no difficulty involved.

Kennedy examines Arabia before Muhammad, Muhammad's life and preaching, the early Islamic conquests, and the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates up to the time of the Mongol invasions. This time period is well researched, and I cannot honestly say that Kennedy brings anything new to the table with his work. What he does, however, is concisely reconstruct the history in a readable and flowing prose. I was slightly disapppointed that he spent so little time discussing the Islamic conquests, but his overview of the Abbasid state is better than most I have read.

Overall, this is a great introduction for students looking to study the early history of Islam and the Middle East. It does not have everything though, and should not be taken as the be-all end-all source. Other books along the same line as this which are worthwhile are F.E. Peter's Muhammad and the Origins of Islam, William Ochsenwald's The Middle East, and Wilfred Madelung's The Succession to Muhammad.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Standard Historical Survey, May 29, 2009

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C. A. (Bloomington, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the 6th to the 11th Century (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

Kennedy's book is the standard introductory history of the classical and medieval Islamic period in the Middle East and North Africa. This book is packed with information, which contrary to a previous reviewer, is a positive thing. The author's description of events and important personalities, which are all based on a careful reading of the primary sources and decades of research and teaching experience in the field, are second to none. An excellent buy and well worth the money for any serious student of Middle Eastern and Islamic history and societies.

14 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not very good and way too much money!, October 30, 2001

By 

Blah (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the Sixth to the Eleventh Century (Paperback)

This book is supposed to be a basic overview of Islamic history from the sixth century to the eleventh century. The problem is that if you are a beginning student of Islam it throws way to many names in rapid succession at you with not enough in depth discussion for you to remember any of them. On the other hand if you are an expert in the field you probably know you all these people are and there is not enough analysis to make it worth your time. Compounding the problem is the ridiculous price of fifty dollars for a paperback!