A History of Islamic Societies

This third edition of Ira M. Lapidus's classic A History of Islamic Societies has been substantially revised to incorporate the new scholarship and insights of the last twenty-five years. Lapidus's history explores the beginnings and transformations of Islamic civilizations in the Middle East and details Islam's worldwide diffusion to Africa; Spain; Turkey and the Balkans; Central, South, and Southeast Asia; and North America. The book has been updated to include historical developments in the first decade of the twenty-first century. The narrative is unified by its focus on the organization of primary communities, religious groups and states, and the institutions and cultures that define them. The history is divided into four parts. The first part is a comprehensive account of pre-Islamic late antiquity; the beginnings of Islam; the early Islamic empires; and Islamic religious, artistic, legal, and intellectual cultures. Part II deals with the construction in the Middle East of Islamic religious communities and states to the fifteenth century. Part III includes the history to the nineteenth century of Islamic North Africa and Spain; the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires; and other Islamic societies in Asia and Africa, situating them within their global, political, and economic contexts. Part IV accounts for the impact of European commercial and imperial domination on Islamic societies and traces the development of the modern national state system and the simultaneous Islamic revival from the early nineteenth century to the present. Organized in narrative sections for the history of each major region, with innovative, analytic summary introductions and conclusions, this book is a unique endeavor. The informative and substantial update, balanced judgment, and clarity of presentation which readers have come to expect of this work ensure that it will remain a classic in the field."