The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In [Hardcover]

Hugh Kennedy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 11, 2007

Today’s Arab world was created at breathtaking speed. In just over one hundred years following the death of Mohammed in 632, Arabs had subjugated a territory with an east-west expanse greater than the Roman Empire, and they did it in about one-half the time. By the mid-eighth century, Arab armies had conquered the thousand-year-old Persian Empire, reduced the Byzantine Empire to little more than a city-state based around Constantinople, and destroyed the Visigoth kingdom of Spain. The cultural and linguistic effects of this early Islamic expansion reverberate today. This is the first popular English-language account in many years of this astonishing remaking of the political and religious map of the world. Hugh Kennedy’s sweeping narrative reveals how the Arab armies conquered almost everything in their path, and brings to light the unique characteristics of Islamic rule. One of the few academic historians with a genuine talent for story telling, Kennedy offers a compelling mix of larger-than-life characters, fierce battles, and the great clash of civilizations and religions.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In forthrightly popular style, Kennedy fascinatingly chronicles the expansion of Islam from the death of the Prophet Mohammed in 632 to the beginning of the Abbasid Caliphate in 750 (the latter the subject of Kennedy's When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World, 2005). Relating the story, however, requires care since most sources date, as Kennedy cautions, from 150 to 250 years after the conquests they purport to describe. Kennedy's warnings engage interest as he provides the contexts of late antiquity, which lent advantage to the new religion sweeping out of Arabia. Crucially, Near East populations had been devastated by plague and by a war between Islam's political enemies: the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire of Persia. Kennedy's attention to these factors deepens his interpretations of the Islamic chronicles, which he describes as frustratingly vague on details of battles but strangely attentive to the division of booty. Explaining the élan that propelled Islam so far, so fast, and so permanently, Kennedy vividly introduces the formative establishment of Islam. Taylor, Gilbert

Review

Saudi Aramco World
“A lively tour d’horizon of the Muslim world circa 750…Each section’s tight geographical focus and ample bibliography make this a helpful guide.”

Claremont Review of Books, Fall 2008
“Comprehensive and scholarly…[Kennedy] is a real historian, doing what a historian ought to do…Kennedy has a good eye for a colorful story.”

Military History Quarterly, Fall 2008
“Kennedy’s account is a thoughtful reminder of how even the most epochal world-changing events can turn on the unanticipated intersection of a handful of diverse contingencies.”

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; First Edition edition (September 11, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306815850
• ISBN-13: 978-0306815850
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.5 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #802,340 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 42 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, and true to its sources September 5, 2007

By Mark O'Neill

Format:Hardcover

I read a pre-release copy of this book prior to a trip through some of the Gulf states. My knowledge of the spread of Islam had been limited to a short section of my secondary school history course, where it was mixed up with the fall of the Byzantine empire. It is easy to imagine that countries like Syria were always Islamic, and to forget about the swift process which converted them (from Christianity, in the case of Syria).

I found this book to be extremely readable. The fluency of the writing matched the content, the amazing swiftness of the Muslim conquests.

The author cites his sources often. I liked the fact that it felt like reading the original sources. I never felt it was just one author's opinion. The book is a nice mix of high-level accounts of battles and strategy, plus an insight into the mindset of the original Muslim soldiers, who were agile and lightly armoured, and not afraid to withdraw to fight another day. One thing which it doesn't do is go into great detail on Mohammed himself, but plenty of other books do that already.

Highly recommended.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging, superbly-organized, well-reasearched... A great book! February 9, 2008

By Kevin M. Merkelz

Format:Hardcover

"The Great Arab Conquests" is not only informative and enlightening, it's also a fascinating, fast-paced, and wholly understandable read.

I'll highlight just a few aspects of the book which I considered its high points:

Writing style. The author, Hugh Kennedy, writes with a style that is easy to follow and quite often fun to read. Many history books that I have read begin with a "Preface" or an "Introduction" where the author directly addresses you, the reader. But typically, once Chapter 1 begins, the author steps far, far away from you, the reader, to dictate events from some high "historical writing" platform. Kennedy stays with you throughout the entire book, offering insightful and sometimes even humorous commentary. It reminded me less of "historical writing", and more of some of those great, engaging history class professors I had in college. More authors of history should write like this.

Organization. Kennedy's smooth and straightforward structure makes it a breeze to comprehend the vast and diverse Arab conquests. The conquests are divided up into separate chapters for each geographical region conquered (e.g. "Conquest of Iran", "Conquest of Egypt", etc.). Each chapter is roughly 30 pages in length which always felt like the ideal amount of material that I could digest in one sitting. Some history books have colossal 60-page chapters, which have always felt exhausting to me. Other books have new topic headings every few pages, which I have always found distracting. Kennedy seems to have found an ideal middle ground, and it works beautifully.

Historical sources. The original contemporary Arab sources from the time of the Arab conquests are sketchy, and often nearly fictitious.... Kennedy acknowledges this and deals with it in a superbly scholarly fashion. In addition to setting aside several pages at the beginning of the book to deal with this important matter, he continually wrestles with sparse and/or untrustworthy sources throughout the course of the book.

Maps. For every separate conquest region, there is a corresponding, well-detailed map. Iran, Iraq, Egypt, North Africa, Transoxania, etc. all have fantastic maps located at the front of the book. I was constantly referring back to them.

Finally, as a small but delightful bonus, the dustjacket illustrations of the hardcover edition of this book are absolutely gorgeous. The lavish Arabic design aesthetic constantly invited me to crack open the book every time that I glanced at it on my desk.

All in all, "The Great Arab Conquests" has quickly become one of my favorite books on Arab history. I was impressed by Hugh Kennedy's treatment of the Abbasid caliphate in his previous book, "When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World", and this latest work of his has only increased my appreciation for his engaging, intelligible writing on complex topics in Arab history. Read more ›

45 of 53 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Early Arab Military Campaigns November 5, 2007

By Izaak VanGaalen

Format:Hardcover

After the death of the Mohammed in 632 and up to the Battle of Poitiers in 732, Arab Muslim armies conquered a swath of land that extended from Spain and Portugal in the West to what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan in the East. Our traditional understanding of these events is that a group Muslim fanatics were hell-bent (pardon the expression) on proselytizing others to their faith. Hugh Kennedy, professor of history at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, tells us in this excellent and well-written book that there were more mundane reasons for this sudden expansion of the realm: namely, the quest for the spoils of war. Religious conversion was not yet a factor; that would come two to three hundred years later.

This story is told in chronological as well as geographical order, moving outward from Mecca and Medina. Kennedy reminds us that many of his sources are unreliable and unclear since they were written by the victors. But he has done a masterful job putting it together, making use also of the records of the conquered. His knowledge of Arabic is evident throughout this book.

How did a group of disorganized Bedouins with no military weapons or martial tradition create such a large empire? In the beginning, Kennedy tells us, it was due mainly to the weakness and decline of the immediate surrounding empires. Byzantium, which controlled Syria and Palestine, and Sassanid Persia, which controlled what is now Iraq and Iran, had exhausted themselves fighting each other. When the Arab armies arrived they were met with little resistance.

Their mode of conquest was simple and time-honored. First they defeated the army, then they beseiged the population centers giving them a choice of paying tribute and allegiance or facing death.... Conquered peoples invariably chose the former. Arab administrators wisely left existing structures and traditions in place. They established a very tolerant and multicultural empire. ( For more on empires and tolerance read Amy Chua's Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance--and Why They Fall.) They were tolerant of Christianity in the West as well as Hinduism in the East. During the 100 year period covered in this book, Egypt remained Coptic-speaking and Christian, and Persia remained Pahlavi-speaking and Zoroastrian. It was not until much later that the Arabic language and Muslim faith took hold.

The conquests were driven by the quest for booty to satisfy the growing Arab-controlled armies. Since Muslims were forbidden to fight each other, according to Kennedy, the constantly sought out new lands and peoples to conquer.

This may throw some light on the present condition of the Middle East. Now we know that Muslims do fight each other and that Islam in its current form in Iran and Saudi Arabia has very little tolerance of other faiths. During the time period covered in this book, Kennedy does not say much about inter-Muslim and inter-Arab conflicts, apparently there weren't many. There may have been greater harmony within during a time of tolerance of outside cultures. For those Arabs today who mourn the loss of empire and feel humiliation and inferiority at the hands of the West, they would do well to study the lessons of this book. Tolerance of other cultures and religions - not rigidity and exclusion - is the key to greatness and power. Read more ›

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting book for a difficult task June 29, 2008

By Eric Du Perron

Format:Hardcover

I was searching for a good, synthetic but serious book about the muslim conquest for a long time. For me as a french, it was a more difficult task to find it in my native language since many books about the subject in french are too old or too summarized.
The great arab conquest is a solid, well documented book and the author gave us an almost complete view, altough not exhaustive, about the conquest.
It was important for me to find an author who could work with arabic sources, even if the account from muslims historians must be studied carefully. Hugh Kennedy has aknowledged, with humillity, that he cannot give a full light about all the events and due to a lack of sources many of them will remained uncertain.
The book give us also a good background about the situation in arabia, the neighbouring empires and the doctrinal divisions especially in the byzantines provinces. It is necessary introduction for understanding the conquests.
The chapters are divided by geographical areas of conquest which is not very imaginative but it has the advantage to be simple and Hugh Kennedy is hopefully a good narrator so the book is not difficult to assimilate.
We can also notice that the author refers to the "arab conquests" and not "muslim conquests" as usual (in my case in france)and i found his view on the subject very interesting. Arabs were the bulk of the army with a strong arab spirit, the tribal ties "'açabiyya" - including internal divisions between the tribes, the idea of being a superior cast, remained vivid even with their fellow muslims from other ethnies....
Although Hugh Kennedy doesn't differentiate himself with other scholars about the reasons of the conquest's success, persians and byzantines weakened by their previous conflict, hostility of some christians populations towards the byzantine church, this book is a must have for everyone who want to learn about this period of history and a good beginning for those who want to read further with other scholars such as at-Tabari.
ps: Sorry if my english is a little "boring" Read more ›