Middle East (non-fiction)
Explore a curated list of the best non-fiction books about the Middle East, featuring insightful reads on history, culture, and politics. Discover must-read titles today.
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The Travels of Ibn Battutah
by Ibn Battutah
He did not return to Morocco for another twenty-nine years, travelling instead through more than forty countries on the modern map, covering seventy-five thousand miles and getting as far north as the Volga, as far east as China and as far south as Tanzania. He wrote of his travels, and comes across as a superb ethnographer, biographer, anecdotal historian and occasional botanist and gastronome. With this edition by Mackintosh-Smith, Battuta's Travels takes its place alongside other indestructible masterpieces of the travel-writing genre.
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The Travels of Ibn Battuta in the Near East, Asia and Africa 1325-1354
by Ibn Batuta
In 1326, Ibn Battuta began a pilgrimage to Mecca that ended 27 years and 75,000 miles later. His engrossing account of that journey provides vivid scenes from Morocco, southern Russia, India, China, and elsewhere. "Essential reading . . . the ultimate in real life adventure stories." — History in Review.
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The Muqaddimah
by Ibn Khaldūn
The Muqaddimah, often translated as "Introduction" or "Prolegomenon," is the most important Islamic history of the premodern world. Written by the great fourteenth-century Arab scholar Ibn Khaldûn (d. 1406), this monumental work laid down the foundations of several fields of knowledge, including philosophy of history, sociology, ethnography, and economics. The first complete English translation, by the eminent Islamicist and interpreter of Arabic literature Franz Rosenthal, was published in three volumes in 1958 as part of the Bollingen Series and received immediate acclaim in America and abroad. A one-volume abridged version of Rosenthal's masterful translation was first published in 1969. This new edition of the abridged version, with the addition of a key section of Rosenthal's own introduction to the three-volume edition, and with a new introduction by Bruce B. Lawrence, will reintroduce this seminal work to twenty-first-century students and scholars of Islam and of medieval and ancient history.
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The Crusades Through Arab Eyes
by Amin Maalouf
The author has combed the works of contemporary Arab chronicles of the Crusades, eyewitnesses and often participants. He retells their story and offers insights into the historical forces that shape Arab and Islamic consciousness today.
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Harun Al-Rashid and the World of the Thousand and One Nights
by André Clot
A symbol of the fabled Orient, Harun al-Rashid, the caliph portrayed in The Thousand and One Nights, was the son of a Yemenite slave who cleared his path to power, very probably by poisoning the reigning caliph, her older son. Through Arab chronicles, the author gives a remarkable account of Harun's development as a ruler.
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Saladin
by Stanley Lane-Poole
This compelling biography focuses on the ruler's sagacity and intelligence, and explains why Saladin was a man admired--even by his enemies.
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The Assassin Legends
by Farhad Daftary
For hundreds of years Westerners have been fascinated by stories of the Assassins, their mysterious leader and their remote mountain stronghold at Alamut in Northern Iran. The legends first emerged in the 12th and 13th centuries, when Crusaders in Syria came into contact with the Nazari Isma'ilis, one of the communities of Shi'ite Islam who, at the behest of their leader Hassan Sabaa (mythologized as the "Old Man of the Mountain"), engaged in dangerous missions to kill their enemies. Elaborated over the years, the tales culminated in Marco Polo's claim that the "Old Man" controlled the behaviour of his self-sacrificing devotees through the use of hashish and a secret garden of paradise. So influential were these tales that the word "assassin" entered European languages as a common noun meaning "murderer". Daftary traces the origins and early development of the legends - as well as investigating the historical context in which they were fabricated and transmitted. As such, this book reveals an extraordinary programme of propaganda rooted in the medieval Muslim world and medieval Europe's ignorance of this world. This book also provides the first English translation of French orientalist Silvestre de Sacy's famous 19th-century "Memoire" on the Assassins.
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Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva
by Pierre Chuvin
Samarkand, Boukhara, Khiva: centered around these Central Asian cities is a spectacular artistic heritage of architecture and decoration that has remained, until recently, just out of reach of globalization. The informed text and architectural detail captured in color photography, plans, and notes of Samarkand reinstates the magnificent mosques, fortresses, and residences to their proper place in the study of Islamic art. The volume pays tribute to a culture of building that withstood cycles of conquest and continued to thrive until Soviet power set in, preserving some of the most authentic building details in Asia.
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The Alhambra
by Robert Irwin
The Alhambra, which resembles a fairy tale palace, was constructed by slave labour in an era of economic decline, plague and political violence. Its beautifully decorated halls witnessed many murders. The Alhambra's influence on art, and on literature, Orientalist painting and Granada cinemas, Washington Irving and Borges, has been significant. Robert Irwin helps us to understand that story fully."--Jacket.
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Mirage
by Nina Burleigh
Little more than two hundred years ago, only the most reckless or eccentric Europeans had dared traverse the unmapped territory of the modern-day Middle East. Its history and peoples were the subject of much myth and speculation—and no region aroused greater interest than Egypt, where reports of mysterious monuments, inscrutable hieroglyphics, rare silks and spices, and rumors of lost magical knowledge tantalized dreamers and taunted the power-hungry. It was not until 1798, when an unlikely band of scientific explorers traveled from Paris to the Nile Valley, that Westerners received their first real glimpse of what lay beyond the Mediterranean Sea. Under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte and the French Army, a small and little-known corps of Paris's brightest intellectual lights left the safety of their laboratories, studios, and classrooms to embark on a thirty-day crossing into the unknown—some never to see French shores again. Over 150 astronomers, mathematicians, naturalists, physicists, doctors, chemists, engineers, botanists, artists—even a poet and a musicologist—accompanied Napoleon's troops into Egypt. Carrying pencils instead of swords, specimen jars instead of field guns, these highly accomplished men participated in the first large-scale interaction between Europeans and Muslims of the modern era. And many lived to tell the tale. Hazarding hunger, hardship, uncertainty, and disease, Napoleon's scientists risked their lives in pursuit of discovery. They approached the land not as colonizers, but as experts in their fields of scholarship, meticulously categorizing and collecting their finds—from the ruins of the colossal pyramids to the smallest insects to the legendary Rosetta Stone. Those who survived the three-year expedition compiled an exhaustive encyclopedia of Egypt, twenty-three volumes in length, which secured their place in history as the world's earliest-known archaeologists. Unraveling the mysteries that had befuddled Europeans for centuries, Napoleon's scientists were the first to document the astonishing accomplishments of a lost civilization—before the dark shadow of empire-building took Africa and the Middle East by storm. Internationally acclaimed journalist Nina Burleigh brings readers back to a little-known landmark adventure at the dawn of the modern era—one that ultimately revealed the deepest secrets of ancient Egypt to a very curious continent.
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The Golden Road to Samarkand
by Wilfrid Blunt
Taking as his title the famous phrase from Flecker's "Hassan", the author follows the journeys of a number of men who have ventured across Central Asia during the last 2,000 years. An epilogue gives an account of Samarkand today, where skilful restoration is saving remains of the past in one of history's most enchanted cities.
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Splendors of Islam
by Dominique Clevenot
Since human representation is forbidden in Islamic religious monuments, design & ornamentation reach unparalleled heights in Islamic tiles, mosaics, stucco, brickwork, & ceramics, enhanced by brilliant color. The author is a distinguished scholar of Islamic art & a professor at the University of Toulouse.
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Arabic Art in Color
by Prisse d?Avennes
Ever since the Arab conquest of Egypt in the seventh century, Cairo has been one of the great centers of Islam. The noted French historian Prisse d'Avennes published from 1869 to 1877 his monumental L'art arabe, a sumptuous set of plates illustrating a wide range of art treasures located in and around Cairo. In the city's mosques and palaces, Prisse d'Avennes discovered rare architectural ornaments (tiles, wood carving, paintings on walls and ceilings, woven hangings), carpets, paper appliqués, and illuminated books, and his were the first publications of most of this hitherto neglected and unknown material. Arabic Art in Color contains 50 full-color plates from these rare volumes. There are 141 designs and motifs that constitute a grammar of Islamic decorative art in its authentic colors — naturalistic florals; geometrical patterns based on hexagons, octagons, and dodecagons; Koran illuminations of incredible intricacy; animal vignettes; spots and borders of many kinds. The illustrations range from the twelfth century to the eighteenth. Artists, art historians, collectors, designers of textiles, wallpaper and packaging, craftspeople working in stained glass, rugs, mosaics, etc. and others will find this book a valuable source of pictorial information and inspiration on Islamic art and design.
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Islamic Designs in Color
by NikolaÄ Simakov
Over 160 rich, sumptuous designs, reproduced from rare 19th-century edition. Royalty-free motifs include geometrics, florals, other designs in many shapes and sizes.
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Islamic Design
by Daud Sutton
There are two key aspects to the visual structure of Islamic design: calligraphy using Arabic script, and abstract ornamentation using a varied visual language. Focusing on the construction and meaning of Islamic geometric patterns this book offers insight into Islamic culture and is a resource for anyone interested in this artistic tradition. -- Dust Jacket.
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Palace and Mosque
by Tim Stanley
The arts of Islam, a great and ancient culture, are presented here in all their astonishing richness and diversity. From the Middle East came the earliest astrological clocks, the finest ceramics and lusterware, the development of calligraphy and Arabic scripts, and the intricate craft of carpet-weaving, among many other profoundly significant cultural developments. This cradle of empires was also a vibrant commercial center, exporting raw materials, skills, and techniques to surrounding lands and spreading its web of influence from southern Spain to northern India. This beautifully illustrated book provides a fascinating introduction to Islamic art and culture, drawing from the world-famous collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It accompanies an exhibition touring to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.
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Peerless Images
by Vice-President Eleanor G Sims
This book is the first survey of the figural arts of the Iranian world from prehistoric times to the early twentieth century ever to consider themes, rather than styles. Analyzing primarily painting - in manuscripts and albums, on walls and on lacquered, painted pen boxes and caskets - but also the related arts of sculpture, ceramics, and metalwork, the author finds that the underlying themes depicted on them through the ages are remarkably consistent. Eleanor Sims demonstrates that all these arts display similar concerns: kingship and legitimacy; the righteous exercise of princely power and the defense of national territory; and the performance of rituals and the religious duties called for by the paramount cult of the day. She describes a variety of superb works of art inside and outside these categories, noting not only how they illustrate archetypal themes but also what it is about them that is unique. She also discusses the ways that Iranian art both influenced and was influenced by invaders and neighboring lands. Boris I. Marshak discusses pre-Islamic and also Central Asian art, in particular the earliest Iranian wall paintings and their pictorial parallels in rock carvings and metalwork, and the richly painted temples and houses of Panjikent. Ernst J. Grube considers religious imagery, and provides an informative bibliography.
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Hunt for Paradise
by James Allan
This catalogue documents the most opulent period of later Persian history through over 125 superlative works of art from public and private collections in Europe, North America and Asia, including Iran.
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Islamic Art
by Barbara Brend
Presents a region-by-region history of the art of the Islamic world, looking at architecture, the art of the book, mosaics, pottery, textiles, and other decorative art forms.
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Heaven on Earth
by Courtauld Institute of Art
Catalogus van een tentoonstelling over kunst en kunstnijverheid uit het islamitische cultuurgebied van de negende tot en met de negentiende eeuw.
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The Golden Age of Persian Art 1501-1722
by Sheila Canby
The golden age of Persian art was the era of the Safavid dynasty. In this time of dynamic religious and political developments, painting and textiles achieved new heights of brilliance and opulence, and architecture flourished with the growth of cities. This resplendent volume provides a chronological history of the reign of each successive Safavid shah, including that of Shah 'Abbas I, who came to the throne in 1588. He not only built grand mosques and palaces, but also welcomed foreign travelers -- and their artistic influences -- to his court. The superb illustrations complement a much-needed text by a leading scholar in the field. This volume is sure to become a standard reference on this sublime period in Persian painting, architecture, illuminated manuscripts, ceramics, metalwork, and other decorative arts.
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Al-Kindi
by Peter Adamson
Part of the 'Great Medieval Thinkers' series, this book focuses on an Islamic philosopher, Al-Kindī. It surveys what is known of his life, examines his thought on a range of topics, and considers the relationship of his work to his Greek sources.
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The Dome of the Rock
by Oleg Grabar
The Dome of the Rock was fully restored in the last half-century, it was built during the reign of Herod.
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Islamic Calligraphy
by Sheila Blair
Front cover As before with IRAN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR IN ISLAMIC STUDIES flash in bottom right corner Spine As before Back cover WINNER OF THE IRANIAN BOOK PRIZE IN ISLAMIC STUDIES WINNER OF THE BRITISH-KUWAIT FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY PRIZE CHOICE OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC TITLE 'Islamic Calligraphy is a compendium of (almost) everything we know about the subject... [its publication] is a significant moment in the history of its subject... a real achievement.' Times Literary Supplement 'An essential key to understanding Islamic arts and civilization, this reference is not to be missed.' California Book Review 'This must be the best book ever written about Islamic Calligraphy.' Judges of the British-Kuwait Friendship Society Prize This stunning book is an important contribution to a key area of non-western art, being the first reference work on art of beautiful writing in Arabic script. The extensive use of writing is a hallmark of Islamic civilization. Calligraphy, the art of beautiful writing, became one of the main methods of artistic expression from the seventh century to the present in almost all regions from the far Maghrib, or Islamic West, to India and beyond. Arabic script was adopted for other languages from Persian and Turkish to Kanembu and Malay. Sheila Blair's groundbreaking book explains this art form to modern readers and shows them how to identify, understand and appreciate its varied styles and modes. The book is designed to offer a standardized terminology for identifying and describing various styles of Islamic calligraphy, and to help Westerners appreciate why calligraphy has long been so important in Islamic civilization. The argument is enhanced by the inclusion of more than 150 colour illustrations, as well as over 100 black-and-white details that highlight the salient features of the individual scripts and hands. Examples are chosen from dated or datable examples with secure provenance, for the problem of forgeries and copies (both medieval a
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A History of Arabic Astronomy
by George Saliba
Based on the most recent manuscript discoveries, this book broadly surveys development sin Arabic planetary theories from the eleventh century to the fifteenth. Taken together, the primary texts and essays assembled in this book reverse traditional beliefs about the rise and fall of Arabic science, demonstrating how the traditional 'age of decline' in Arabic science was indeed a 'Golden Age' as far astronomy was concerned.
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A Brief Introduction to Astronomy in the Middle East
by John M. Steele
One of two titles launching a series offering insight into Arabic advances in science and culture.
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Cosmology and Architecture in Premodern Islam
by Samer Akkach
A fascinating exploration of how the transcendent is expressed in the spatial sensibility of premodern Islam.
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Tamerlane
by Justin Marozzi
Marozzi travels in the footsteps of Tamerlane the Great (1336-1405), the last great Mongol conqueror of Central Asia, the ruler of a vast empire, and one of history's most brutal tyrants. of photos. 9 maps.
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Sea of Faith
by Stephen O'Shea
O'Shea chronicles both the meeting of minds and the collisions of armies that marked the interaction of Christianity and Islam in the Middle Ages--the better to understand their apparently intractable conflict today.
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Arabia Felix from the Time of the Queen of Sheba
by Jean-François Breton
Sheba, or Saba, is a region of high mountains and vast deserts situated in the southwest of the Arabian peninsula, in present-day Yemen. In the ancient Mediterranean world it was the fabled source of merchant caravans laden with aromatic spices. The mysteries and riches of Sheba and its people figured in the works of classical authors like Herodotus, and enticed the likes of King Solomon, Alexander the Great, the Emperor Augustus, and kings of Ethiopia and Byzantium. From the eighth century B.C. to the first century A.D., the kingdom of Sheba dominated other realms in Southern Arabia, imposing its language, institutions, and artistic forms throughout the region.In Arabia Felix from the Time of the Queen of Sheba, Jean-Francois Breton provides us with a fascinating and detailed description of this remote civilization, the uniqueness of the region's geography and climate, and the major events that shaped its history. Calling on the resources of modern archeological discoveries, he offers valuable insights into the Sabeans' daily life, their agriculture and skill in irrigation, their customs and religion, their modes of commerce, and their relations with neighboring civilizations.
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Sheba
by Nicholas Clapp
In an adventure that is part history, part travelogue, Clapp sets out on a quest to find the Queen of Sheba one of the most mysterious figures of the past. Everyone knows her name, but few know more about her than that she journeyed to see wise King Solomon. 8-page insert.
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The Animals' Lawsuit Against Humanity
by Matthew Kaufmann
In this interfaith and multicultural fable, eloquent representatives of all members of the animal kingdom--from horses to bees--come before the respected Spirit King to complain of the dreadful treatment they have suffered at the hands of humankind. During the ensuing trial, where both humans and animals testify before the King, both sides argue their points ingeniously, deftly illustrating the validity of both sides of the ecology debate. The ancient antecedents of this tale are thought to have originated in India, with the first written version penned in Arabic sometime before the 10th century in what is now Iraq. Much later, this version of the story was translated into Hebrew in 14th century France and was popular in European Jewish communities into the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This exquisite English translation, illustrated with 12 original color illumination plates, is useful in introducing young and old alike to environmental and animal rights issues.
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Arabian Sands
by Wilfred Thesiger
Wilfred Thesiger was born in Addis Ababa in 1910 and educated at Eton and Oxford. Though British, he was repulsed by the softness and rigidity of Western life, "the machines, the calling cards, the meticulously aligned streets, etc." In the spirit of T.E. Lawrence, Thesiger spent five years exploring and wandering the deserts of Arabia. With vivid descriptions and colorful anecdotes he narrates his stories, including two crossings of the Empty Quarter, among peoples who had never seen a European and considered it their duty to kill Christian infidels.
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The Valleys of the Assassins
by Freya Stark
Hailed as a classic upon its first publication in 1934, The Valleys of the Assassins firmly established Freya Stark as one of her generation's most intrepid explorers. The book chronicles her travels into Luristan, the mountainous terrain nestled between Iraq and present-day Iran, often with only a single guide and on a shoestring budget. Stark writes engagingly of the nomadic peoples who inhabit the region's valleys and brings to life the stories of the ancient kingdoms of the Middle East, including that of the Lords of Alamut, a band of hashish-eating terrorists whose stronghold in the Elburz Mountains Stark was the first to document for the Royal Geographical Society. Her account is at once a highly readable travel narrative and a richly drawn, sympathetic portrait of a people told from their own compelling point of view. This edition includes a new Introduction by Jane Fletcher Geniesse, Stark's biographer.
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Assassins
by W. B. Bartlett
The so-called 'Assassins' are one of most spectacular legends of medieval history. In the popular imagination they are drug-crazed fanatics who launched murderous attacks on their enemies, terrorising the medieval world. Since the tales of Marco Polo and others, the myths surrounding them have been fantastically embellished and the truth has ......
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Shiraz in the Age of Hafez
by John Limbert
The fourteenth-century Persian city of Shiraz was home to Shams al-Din Mohammad Hafez Shirazi, a classical poet who remains broadly popular today in modern Iran and among all lovers of great verse traditions. As John Limbert notes, Hafez’s poetry is inseparable from the Iranian spirit -a reflection of Iranians’ intellectual and emotional responses to events.