Description
Book SynopsisBased on the author's dissertation (doctoral)-- Harvard University, 2012.
Trade Review"Winner of the Morris D. Forkosch Book Prize, Journal of the History of Ideas"
"Honorable Mention for the British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize"
"Winner of the John Nicholas Brown Prize, Medieval Academy of America"
"In this erudite book, Elias Muhanna deftly analyzes the epistemological structure of al-Nuwayri's immense encyclopedia and places it into its many rich intellectual, cultural, and historical contexts."
---Nasser Rabbat, Massachusetts Institute of Technology"Elias Muhanna’s
The World in a Book: Al-Nuwayri and the Islamic Encyclopedic Tradition is an erudite, scrupulously researched, and eminentlyreadable book that marks a significant contribution to studies in Arabic literature, Mamluk history, and the production and circulation of knowledgein the medieval Islamicate world."
---Mimi Hanaoka, American Journal of Islamic Social Science"There are few books in the field of pre-modern Islamic intellectual history that are both original contributions to scholarship and such a pleasure to read that they would interest a broad audience of non-specialists. This book is one of them."
---Matthew L. Keegan, Arab Studies Journal"
Muhanna’s well-researched The World in a Book presents an exciting exploration
of the conditions of creating a compendium in the fourteenth century. . . a fascinating read for all lover of knowledge
"
---Duygy Yildirim, Nazariyat"
The World in a Book is edifying, lucidly-written, and enjoyable to read. . . . Al-Nuwayrī’s world of Mamluk
Egypt and Syria is vividly brought to life. Muhanna’s book also potentially enables very fruitful comparative conversations on encyclopedism in Middle Eastern and Western traditions. It is an important work that moves the study of “post-classical” Arabic literature significantly forward.
"
---Nathaniel A. Miller, Journal of Arabic Literature
