{"product_id":"islamic-empires-9780141981093","title":"Islamic Empires","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Outstanding, illuminating, compelling ... a riveting read'' Peter Frankopan, \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIslamic civilization was once the envy of the world. From a succession of glittering, cosmopolitan capitals, Islamic empires lorded it over the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and swathes of the Indian subcontinent. For centuries the caliphate was both ascendant on the battlefield and triumphant in the battle of ideas, its cities unrivalled powerhouses of artistic grandeur, commercial power, spiritual sanctity and forward-looking thinking.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIslamic Empires\u003c\/i\u003e is a history of this rich and diverse civilization told through its greatest cities over fifteen centuries, from the beginnings of Islam in Mecca in the seventh century to the astonishing rise of Doha in the twenty-first.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt dwells on the most remarkable dynasties ever to lead the Muslim world - the Abbasids of Baghdad, the Umayyads of Damascus and Cordoba, the Merinids of Fez, the Ottomans of Istanbul, the Mughals of India and the Safavids of Isfahan - and some of the most charismatic leaders in Muslim history, from Saladin in Cairo and mighty Tamerlane of Samarkand to the poet-prince Babur in his mountain kingdom of Kabul and the irrepressible Maktoum dynasty of Dubai. It focuses on these fifteen cities at some of the defining moments in Islamic history: from the Prophet Mohammed receiving his divine revelations in Mecca and the First Crusade of 1099 to the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 and the phenomenal creation of the merchant republic of Beirut in the nineteenth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMarozzi is \u003cb\u003ean outstanding guide\u003c\/b\u003e to the urban centres he expounds on, partly because of his deep understanding and love for the peoples and places he writes about. . . . The succession of \u003cb\u003edelightful pen portraits \u003c\/b\u003eof rulers, as well as writers, artists and scholars, makes for \u003cb\u003ea riveting read\u003c\/b\u003e. This is \u003cb\u003ea fine book that helps recentre our understanding of the past \u003c\/b\u003eby focusing on cities about which little is known in Europe, in spite of their enduring importance and the role they have played in history. It is \u003cb\u003ea compelling and personal account by an author who knows, cares and has thought deeply about his subject matter\u003c\/b\u003e. It is a new Hudud al-Alam, the famous 10th-century Persian geography book, for the 21st century - \u003cb\u003einforming, revealing and delighting in some of the parts of the world that everyone should know about\u003c\/b\u003e. * The Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003eThis\u003cb\u003e impressively clever, careful, and often beautiful\u003c\/b\u003e book is t\u003cb\u003ehe best sort of journey\u003c\/b\u003e. . . Our guide is never predictable, continually \u003cb\u003efascinating\u003c\/b\u003e, and his \u003cb\u003eelegant \u003c\/b\u003ewriting makes for a very comfortable ride. -- Jason Burke * The Spectator *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIslamic Empires \u003c\/i\u003eis a seemingly\u003cb\u003e boundless trove of intellectual, architectural, and actual treasures \u003c\/b\u003e... Marozzi writes \u003cb\u003ecolourful, narrative history of the finest kind\u003c\/b\u003e: pacey, crimson, and with all the references left until the end. * Geographical Magazine *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDeeply engaging and fascinating\u003c\/b\u003e -- Noel Malcolm * The Sunday Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eIt is refreshing to read a book on Islam by someone who \u003cb\u003ecombines profound erudition with emotional intelligence and empathy\u003c\/b\u003e. . . . A \u003cb\u003econtinuously readable\u003c\/b\u003e narrative . . . For each of the cities included there is a well-rounded chapter, with an \u003cb\u003eilluminating \u003c\/b\u003ehistory, a \u003cb\u003eperceptive\u003c\/b\u003e analysis of personalities and politics, and a \u003cb\u003efair-minded\u003c\/b\u003e assessment of its intellectual, artistic and architectural achievements. -- Avi Shlaim * The Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe approach is perfect [and] the \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ebalance between telling detail and telling story is spot on\u003c\/b\u003e. With its fine drawing and mass of minute detail, reading the book is more like poring over the framed miniatures in a manuscript: here a Moghul lolls by a pool, there a Timurid rampages across the page. The prose, too, is \u003cb\u003ebeautifully paced, sprightly\u003c\/b\u003e but never tiring. And \u003cb\u003ethe city portraits build up into a panorama of Islamic civilisation as full as any history, and far more entertaining\u003c\/b\u003e. -- Tim Mackintosh-Smith * The Evening Standard *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSuperbly crafted \u003c\/b\u003e... Marozzi knows the ground intimately [and] has constructed\u003cb\u003e a brilliant narrative\u003c\/b\u003e by stringing together a necklace of tales from 15 extraordinary cities. -- Barnaby Rogerson * History Today *\u003cbr\u003eMarozzi's \u003cb\u003eexpertly crafted\u003c\/b\u003e narrative ... captures the rich, varied and often complex nature of Islamic civilization by offering glimpses of not just its leaders and their institutions, but also its cultural shifts through history, * Arab News *\u003cbr\u003eA \u003cb\u003erich mix of historical detail, colourful description and first-hand insights\u003c\/b\u003e. Marozzi's style mixes historical insight with the descriptive flow of a seasoned traveller. -- Damien McElroy * The National *\u003cbr\u003eMagnificence and ruination go hand in hand in this vivid tale. -- Richard Spencer * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eIn telling the stories of 15 of the great Islamic cities, from Mecca in the seventh century via Samarkand in the 14th to Doha in the 21st, [Marozzi] ... vividly recounts the dynasties that made them centres of art, commerce, science and spirituality. * New Statesman *\u003cbr\u003eThis is a co\u003cb\u003emplex yet accessible book that manages, in a gentle way, to address the prejudiced misconceptions of our world\u003c\/b\u003e. -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times Books of the Year *\u003cbr\u003eJustin Marozzi has ridden camels across the Sahara, written \u003cb\u003eilluminating\u003c\/b\u003e accounts of Herodotus, Tamerlane and Baghdad and advised the governments of Somalia, Libya and Iraq. In \u003ci\u003eIslamic Empires\u003c\/i\u003e, comprising 15 pocket portraits of cities of the Muslimworld at a crunch point in their history, he gives us \u003cb\u003ea vivid, candid and entertaining immersion into a complex subject\u003c\/b\u003e -- Barnaby Rogerson * Country Life Books of the Year *\u003cbr\u003eMarozzi is an accomplished and ambitious writer... \u003ci\u003eIslamic Empires \u003c\/i\u003e[is] \u003cb\u003ea sweeping, vibrant and often irrepressible account of the cities most emblematic of Islam\u003c\/b\u003e... the charm of this book lies in the fact that it is so obviously the adult sublimation of a boyhood passion for the lands and history of Islam... \u003cb\u003eLike an erudite magpie, he gathers material from every available source-primary texts, both religious and historical, as well as a profusion of secondary ones-and weaves it all together with dexterity\u003c\/b\u003e. -- Tunku Varadarajan * Wall Street Journal *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIslamic\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eEmpires\u003c\/i\u003e encompasses a\u003cb\u003e breathtaking panorama\u003c\/b\u003e of human, religious, military and architectural activity and achievement, as well as destruction and decline...\u003cb\u003eThe author's achievement is to mix travel writing, history and journalism, and present it in prose that is at once flowing, engaging, enlightening and incisive. His ability to transport us on a magic carpet from the depths of the 7\u003c\/b\u003eth\u003cb\u003e century to the present day and everywhere in between, and to capture key moments and shifts in culture and politics, threatens to render other more conventional approaches obsolete.\u003c\/b\u003e -- Alexander Stilwell * Catholic Herald *","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49083367424343,"sku":"9780141981093","price":14.24,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780141981093.jpg?v=1725548694","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/islamic-empires-9780141981093","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}