Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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!