Historical Atlas of the Islamic World

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 195 pages
• Published by: Mercury Books March 1, 2005
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1904668178
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1904668176
• Book Dimensions: 11.7 x 8.9 x 1.2 inches
• Weighs: 3 pounds

From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up–This volume packs in a great deal of information not usually gathered in one place. Limited to the first millennium of Islamic history, the 12 chapters range from the culture of pre-Islamic Arabia and its contacts with its neighbors through the period of the early caliphs and on into the various ruling dynasties and peoples that marked Islam to the time of the European Renaissance. It looks at such early dynasties as the Umayyads and the Abbasids as well as the successive medieval waves of non-Arab conquerors. Nicolle is careful to note the ways in which Islamic culture absorbed and modified features from its original neighbors–the Byzantines and the Sassanians–its conquerors, and the peoples it conquered, exposing Islam to Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, and pagan influences. Substantial portions of the text deal also with the Muslims in Spain, India, sub-Saharan Africa, and Russia, as well as Muslim advances in geography, astronomy, and various arts. The photographs, though generally small, are colorful, inviting, and informative. The maps are gorgeous, but cities and areas noted in the text are not always included on the accompanying map (and must be found on earlier or succeeding pages). Still, this title supplies a wealth of information in an attractive format.–Coop Renner, Fairmeadows Elementary, Duncanville, TX
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Product Description
The "Historical Atlas of the Islamic World" provides a survey of the history of the Islamic world and of Islamic civilisation from the time of the Prophet Mohammed until the consolidation of the Ottoman Empire in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Its abundant maps are accompanied by text explaining the religious, political and cultural circumstances behind Islam’s development. The book contains superb photographs of the art, architecture, artifacts, and the regions involved, and many reconstructions of the most important events mentioned in the text. At a time when interest in the Islamic faith is increasing, this book provides a comprehensive description of the religion’s long and dynamic history.

Reader Reviews
Being a scholar of comparative religion but feeling lacking in my understanding of the general progress of Islam as a cultural (vice religious) phenomenon, I searched far and wide for a work on Islam akin to those of the Cultural Atlases series. Nicolle's work answered the mail admirably. The work is exceptionally well composed, indicative of a pleasing format and supporting browsing as well as research. Though the work cannot be called profound, factual information of considerable depth is nevertheless available to the targeted searcher. The book is admittedly weak on the theological underpinnings of the religion, though it nowhere claims to be an exploration of Islam as a religion per se: for such information, may I recommend Michael Jordan's handsome "Islam: An Illustrated History" (London: Carlton, 2002). I flatly disagree with those who claim that Ruthven's work is superior to Nicolle's: indeed, I found the former to be boring; superficial in its rigid obedience of the two-to-four-pages rule for every article; and, one might say, helter-skelter in its overall organization. While spelling errors in Nicolle (e.g., proselatize for proselytize) and typographical errors do not impress me, I shouldn't be too harsh, given that modern typesetting and typography for the consumption of the demanding twenty-first-century reader present such formidable challenges. (That, and a certain je ne sais quoi that probably deals with some intractable element of depth, justify my withholding of the fifth rating star.) Well done, Dr. Nicolle.