Race and Slavery in the Middle East: An Historical Enquiry (Paperback)

by Bernard Lewis (Author) "In 1842 the British Consul General in Morocco, as part of his government's worldwide endeavor to bring about the abolition of slavery or at least..." (more)
Key Phrases: military slaves, black eunuchs, Middle East, North Africa, Ottoman Empire (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"...an erudite survey...." Canadian Jewish News, 7/6/94

"A realistic, well-documented study. Important illustrations and primary evidence now made accessible."--Irving R. Mix, Elmira College

"An important book which explains the issue of slavery in the Middle East."--Robert A. Hess, Messiah College

"An excellent and timely work on an important and rather neglected issue."--Ehsan Yarshater, Columbia University

"Splendid--should supplant all previous discussions."--Paul A. Rahe, University of Tulsa

"A splendid discussion of a difficult subject."--Paul A. Rahe, University of Tulsa

"Deceptively brief, delightfully easy to read, and beautifully illustrated."--Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"...Bernard Lewis an exceptionally distinguished historian of the Middle Eastern world....authoritative addresses to reality like his will serve excellently instead, and they make him a matchless guide to the background of Middle East conflict today."--David Pryce-Jones, Commentary

"...pioneering work."--David Warren Bowen, Magill's Literary Annual

"Highly readable."--The New York Review of Books

"This book will foster Bernard Lewis's reputation as the doyen of Middle Eastern studies."--The New York Times Book Review

Product Description
From before the days of Moses up through the 1960s, slavery was a fact of life in the Middle East. Pagans, Jews, Christians, and Muslims bought and sold at the slave markets for millennia, trading the human plunder of wars and slave raids that reached from the Russian steppes to the African jungles. But if the Middle East was one of the last regions to renounce slavery, how do we account for its--and especially Islam's--image of racial harmony? How did these long years of slavery affect racial relations? In Race and Slavery in the Middle East, Bernard Lewis explores these questions and others, examining the history of slavery in law, social thought, and practice over the last two millenia.

With 24 rare and intriguing full-color illustrations, this fascinating study describes the Middle East's culture of slavery and the evolution of racial prejudice. Lewis demonstrates how nineteenth century Europeans mythologized the region as a racial utopia in debating American slavery. Islam, in fact, clearly teaches non-discrimination, but Lewis shows that prejudice often won out over pious sentiments, as he examines how Africans were treated, depicted, and thought of from antiquity to the twentieth century.

"If my color were pink, women would love me/But the Lord has marred me with blackness," lamented a black slave poet in Arabia over a millennium ago--and Lewis deftly draws from these lines and others the nuances of racial relations over time. Islam, he finds, restricted enslavement and greatly improved the lot of slaves--who included, until the early twentieth century, some whites--while blacks occasionally rose to power and renown. But abuses ring throughout the written and visual record, from the horrors of capture to the castration and high mortality which, along with other causes, have left few blacks in many Middle Eastern lands, despite centuries of importing African slaves.

Race and Slavery in the Middle East illuminates the legacy of slavery in the region where it lasted longest, from the days of warrior slaves and palace eunuchs and concubines to the final drive for abolition. Illustrated with outstanding reproductions of striking artwork, it casts a new light on this critical part of the world, and on the nature and interrelation of slavery and racial prejudice.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 30, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195053265
• ISBN-13: 978-0195053265
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #49,779 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique look at the complex racial dynamics of the Mideast, March 24, 2002

By	"nukemind" (Fremont, CA United States) - See all my reviews

I've read some of Prof. Lewis' other books and they all have a common theme, impartial academic analysis. This book tackles a difficult subject without prejudice, slavery and racism. Prof. Lewis knows his subject well. He ignores common "western" perceptions of the region, employs corroborating primary sources, and a very readable rendition of how race is perceived (and not perceived) in the Middle East, past and present.

The pictures alone are an amazing collection from around the Islamic world and illustrate local perceptions. Even parallels that seemingly would never occur in most peoples' minds come up such as the fact that many stories in the Arabian Nights depict blacks as slaves, while the Arabs are often "white supremacists" (not to be taken as literally the same as the context in America). The perception of people in the region greatly varies from place to place and from time to time. At times, they struggle with their own racist ideas and the eloquence of some blacks (either former slaves or those born from such unions as well as the occasional martial slave) in the Mideast who became prominent poets, writers, and popular figures in-spite of the racial prejudice. This is an enlightening journey and you'll learn more from this small book then most huge volumes that cannot even grasp what Prof. Lewis has completely understood. Highly recommended.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great history of slavery, August 7, 2002

By	Neel Aroon "jaroon7648" (Lexington, KY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Though we're all pretty familiar with the slave trade going to the western hemisphere, we're less familiar with the slave trade going from sub-sahara Africa to North Africa and the Middle East. Bernard Lewis covers this part of the slave trade well in Race and Slavery in the Middle East. He goes through time from pre-Islamic times to the 20th century. He discuses how slavery in that part of the world becomes more and more of racial concept that enslaves both whites, black and people from the caucasus montains and each group was perceived. Lewis also focuses on how other ethnic groups in the Middle East such as Persians were looked at. In addition, Lewis goes through how the growth of Europe slowed down slavery and eventually lead to its abolition in North Africa and the Middle East from initially cutting off supply from the Cacasuss Montains and Eastern Europe and then from Sub-Sahara Africa.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It is all very complex and a very good book, January 4, 2005

By	General Pete (SC) - See all my reviews

I have my problem with some of the works of Bernard Lewis but this work is a rare exception for me because I think it is excellent. The author does his best to shatter the myth that Islam is color blind. In the pages of this book time and time again he proves that the Arab Muslims may have been in fear of and were at the very least suspicious of the intentions and work ethics of Black converts to Islam.

The book is a work from a purely sociological standpoint and it also had great historical research to back it up. Also be sure to check out the several insightful examples of artwork provided to see how Black Muslims were portrayed in the art of the Arab world.

Overall-Lewis really has all of his ducks in a row here a wonderful book