History Reviews:The outstanding quality and merit of Professor Hittis book is the abundance and facility of its references to original and primary sources, and the richness of atmosphere in which every page is steeped. - New York Times Description:This authoritative study of the Arabians and the Arabic-speaking peoples is a hugely valuable source of information on Arab history. Suitable for both scholars and the general reader, it unrolls one of the richest and most instructive panoramas in history, telling with insight the story of the rise of Islam in the Middle Ages, its conquests, its empire, its time of greatness and of decay. For this revised tenth edition, Walid Khalidis timely Preface emphasises that now, more than ever, this magisterial work is of vital importance to the on-going attempts to bridge the Arab/Western cultural divide.Contents:Preface to the Revised Tenth Edition; W.KhalidiPreface to the Tenth EditionPreface to the First EditionPART I: THE PRE-ISLAMIC WORLDThe Arabs as Semites: Arabia the Cradle of the Semitic RaceThe Arabian PeninsularBedouin LifeEarly International RelationsThe Sabaean and other States of South ArabiaThe Nabataean and other Petty Kingdoms of North and Central ArabiaAl-Hijaz on the Eve of the Rise of IslamPART II: THE RISE OF ISLAM AND THE CALIPHAL STATEMuhammad the Prophet of AllahThe Koran the Book of AllahIslam the Religion of Submission to the Will of AllahPeriod of Conquest, Expansion and Colonization, A.D. 632-61The Conquest of SyriaAl-Iraq and Persia ConqueredEgypt, Tripolis and Barqah AcquiredThe Administration of the New PossessionsThe Struggle between Ali and Muawiyah for the CaliphatePART III: THE UMAYYAD AND ABBASID EMPIRESThe Umayyad Caliphate: Muawiyah Establishes a DynastyHostile Reactions with the ByzantinesThe Zenith of Umayyad PowerPolitical Administration and Social Conditions under the UmayyadsIntellectual Aspects of Life under the UmayyadsDecline and Fall of the Umayyad DynastyThe Establishment of the Abbasid DynastyThe Golden Prime of the AbbasidsThe Abbasid StateAbbasid SocietyScientific and Literary ProgressEducationThe Development of Fine ArtsMoslem SectsThe Caliphate Dismembered: Petty Dynasties in the WestSundry Dynasties in the EastThe Collapse of the Abbasid CaliphatePART IV: THE ARABS IN EUROPE: SPAIN AND SICILYConquest of SpainThe Umayyad Amirate in SpainCivil DisturbancesThe Umayyad Caliphate of CordovaPolitical, Economic and Educational InstitutionsPetty States: Fall of GranadaIntellectual ContributionsArt and ArchitectureIn SicilyPART V: THE LAST OF THE MEDIEVAL MOSLEM STATESA Shiite Caliphate in Egypt: The FatimidsLife in Fatimid EgyptMilitary Contacts between East and West: The CrusadesCultural ContactsThe Mamluks, Last Medieval Dynasty of Arab WorldIntellectual and Artistic ActivityThe End of Mamluk RulePART VI: OTTOMAN RULE AND INDEPENDENCEThe Arab Lands as Turkish ProvincesEgypt and the Arab CrescentThe Changing Scene: Impact of the WestIndexAuthor Biographies:PHILIP K. HITTI was born in Lebanon in 1886 and from 1913 til his death in 1978 lived for the most part in USA, teaching first at Columbia and later at Princeton, from which he retired in 1954 as Professor of Semitic Literature and Chairman of the Department of Oriental Languages