Rating: 
Summary: Immersion in a book
Review: A huge and absolutely beautiful book, so sensitively illustrated that you'll spend hours combing the pictures before you even dip into the text. The many essays detail out the rise of Islam and its accompanying culture, and it's the first general survey I've seen to cover sub-Saharan Africa as well as Eurasia, the Far East, and the Indian sub-continent. As good as the text is, though--and as fun---it's those pictures that make this book superb. From lone minnerets on the Xinjiang plains to the gorgeous mud-brick mosques of Djenné, the architectural dictates of Islam have produced some of the most striking and functional buildings our species has ever come up with. It gives me a great sense of communion with the Moslem world, whatever our ideological differences. The pictures in this Oxford History are sensitive and at times poignant...a close-up of a gorgeous tiled pillar, with the tile flaking off with age, revealing superb brickwork underneath comes to mind.Those who like me know little of the Moslem world will appreciate the very readable text, with its slightly shaming details (the Moslems came up with the idea of a Hospital/dispensary as an adjunct to the mosque.....and their brilliant textiles were carried off by returning crusaders who had little appreciation for how difficult they were to make!) As a scholarly text, "The Oxford History of Islam" may indeed have some holes---I wouldn't know. But as an introduction to the addictive beauties of Islamic art, and as an overview of the Moslem explosion throughout the world (including some Eurasian places you've never heard of!) I can't think of a better selection than this. You'll never want to part with it.
Rating:
Summary: Immersion in a book
Review: A huge and absolutely beautiful book, so sensitively illustrated that you'll spend hours combing the pictures before you even dip into the text. The many essays detail out the rise of Islam and its accompanying culture, and it's the first general survey I've seen to cover sub-Saharan Africa as well as Eurasia, the Far East, and the Indian sub-continent. As good as the text is, though--and as fun---it's those pictures that make this book superb. From lone minnerets on the Xinjiang plains to the gorgeous mud-brick mosques of Djenné, the architectural dictates of Islam have produced some of the most striking and functional buildings our species has ever come up with. It gives me a great sense of communion with the Moslem world, whatever our ideological differences. The pictures in this Oxford History are sensitive and at times poignant...a close-up of a gorgeous tiled pillar, with the tile flaking off with age, revealing superb brickwork underneath comes to mind. Those who like me know little of the Moslem world will appreciate the very readable text, with its slightly shaming details (the Moslems came up with the idea of a Hospital/dispensary as an adjunct to the mosque.....and their brilliant textiles were carried off by returning crusaders who had little appreciation for how difficult they were to make!) As a scholarly text, "The Oxford History of Islam" may indeed have some holes---I wouldn't know. But as an introduction to the addictive beauties of Islamic art, and as an overview of the Moslem explosion throughout the world (including some Eurasian places you've never heard of!) I can't think of a better selection than this. You'll never want to part with it.
Rating:
Summary: A good, fair introduction
Review: Dr. Esposito is very fair in his writing, which is why so many people have something to complain about; Esposito is not pro-Anybody, so he offends people who are. This is a good introduction to the history of Islamic Civilization. It's fair and balanced. The lay reader may have difficulty sometimes in separating politics and religion in the world of Islam, but it is equally difficult to separate politics and religion in Christianity and Judaism, even today in some places, and certainly hundreds of years ago. Religion and politics have always mixed until recently -- take the Crusades, the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition, for a few examples. The Muslims may have taken over a huge part of the world, but this is no different from the Roman empire taking over a huge part of the world. The Muslims were generally tolerant rulers. But it's perfectly true that in the West we haven't had a clear picture of Islamic civilization. Partly it is because of the language. Partly it is because new tall tales were built on old tall tales -- people have always made up nasty stories about their enemies. Even into the 20th century, textbooks on Islam didn't even have their terminology correct. There have been many recent objective scholarly studies on Islam and the way it spread, but one scholar writes that it is still common for people in the West to take it for granted that Islam is a violent religion of the sword. This book represents the newer, more objective studies that work from original research and do not just base the information on the old tall tales. Stereotypes in the West about Islam are so ingrained that any attempt to set out the facts in a straightforward, unbaised manner, as this book does, are viewed as "whitewashing." The truth is that Islam has a better record than most in terms of religious tolerance. But we don't believe it. We think the Ottomans were intolerant and cruel, when in fact they were indifferent to local religions; they welcomed 50,000 Jews into the Ottoman Empire when Catholic Spain exiled them, and welcomed the Jews back to Jerusalem after the previous Christian rulers systematically banned them. The head of their army was traditionally Christian. An example of this difficulty in seeing past the stereotypes is the reviewer who portrays Tamerlaine as the "greatest Muslim conqueror of all." How could this be when Tamerlaine didn't follow the strict rules of war that Islam requires? When he didn't attack to spread Islam, but for power? Tamerlaine attacked Muslims as well as non-Muslims and treated Muslims as atrociously as he treated anyone else. In the scope of the history of the Muslim world, Tamerlaine was a power-hungry attacker who destroyed what Muslims and others had built and whose brief empire disintegrated after he died. THAT is why he doesn't get much treatment in this book. He just wasn't all that important. But in the West, he is unjustifiably immortalized because of Christopher Marlowe's play, in which Tamerlaine's exploits are luridly detailed and his deeds are considered "Islamic" because he claimed to be Muslim. Being piqued about Tamerlaine not being discussed much is like being piqued because Hitler isn't discussed much in an entire history of Christianity. Anyway, ...If you want a good, fair, readable history of the Islamic world, edited by a scholar who grew up Catholic but who has a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies, then get this book.
Rating:
Summary: Professor Esposito has done it again
Review: Esposito produces an excellent readable history of Islam and its powerful impacts on Western Civilization. Espositio gathered a large number of scholars, each to produce a different chapter covering issues like math, philosophy, politics, etc. While no single volume could cover so vast a subject, the reader is left with what is almost certainly the best introduction to Islam. While many people, unfortunately, have bought Karen Armstrong's Short History of Islam, this text is far superior in almost every way. Not only is it more thorough and better written, it also deals with Islam from within as well as from without. Islamic culture is examined not from the perspective of an outsider with rose colored glasses, but from several distinguished and Muslim and non-Muslim scholars with a firm background in the subject. There is not doubt that no single volume could do all of Islamic history justice. However, this book with its rich photographs and strong prose, is probably as good an introduction as you could get under a single cover.
Rating:
Summary: An invaluable introduction
Review: Esposito produces an excellent readable history of Islam and its powerful impacts on Western Civilization. Espositio gathered a large number of scholars, each to produce a different chapter covering issues like math, philosophy, politics, etc. While no single volume could cover so vast a subject, the reader is left with what is almost certainly the best introduction to Islam. While many people, unfortunately, have bought Karen Armstrong's Short History of Islam, this text is far superior in almost every way. Not only is it more thorough and better written, it also deals with Islam from within as well as from without. Islamic culture is examined not from the perspective of an outsider with rose colored glasses, but from several distinguished and Muslim and non-Muslim scholars with a firm background in the subject. There is not doubt that no single volume could do all of Islamic history justice. However, this book with its rich photographs and strong prose, is probably as good an introduction as you could get under a single cover.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent chapter on Islamic (Arabic) mathematics.
Review: I came across this book while browsing in a bricks-and-mortar bookstore, and couldn't put it down. I found the chapter on Muhammad and the founding of Islam quite enlightening, for example, and I thoroughly enjoyed the brilliantly illustrated discussion of arabesques in Islamic art and architecture. However, I firmly believe the chapter on Islamic mathematics (the work of mathematicians who lived under Islamic rule and wrote in Arabic) is the one jewel that makes the book unique. I would love to find a book that expands that discussion further. I was most intrigued when I read that Arab mathematicians discovered key advances that are usually credited to Viete and Descartes, centuries before these western Europeans lived. Overall, an excellent--and unusually deep--coffee table book, on a much neglected subject.
Rating:
Summary: Professor Esposito has done it again
Review: I have come across many writings on Islam by people of the West. Very few of the Western writers have given Islam the credit that is due, for the contributions Islam has made to Knowledge and to the West. Kudos for Prof. Esposito and all the contributors to this work. May God Bless them for seeing the Truth the way it is, and not write with a motive to malign Islam unlike many people these days (especially in the Media) who have made it into a profession to discredit Islam.
Rating:
Summary: A good history
Review: Occasionally people look at my bookshelves and think that there is some sort of unofficial Oxford Press day at Fr. Kurt's house. There is a good reason why so many of my books carry the indenture of Oxford University Press -- there is a general level of scholarly quality that such books rarely fall below. The Oxford History of Islam One such quality book is John Esposito's recent volume on the history of Islam. Published in 1999, this one might well have included the word Illustrated in the title, for it is lavishly illustrated throughout with pictures, photographs, maps, and drawings. It provides a wide-ranging and in-depth account of Islam. 'Although Islam is the youngest of the major world religions, with 1.2 billion followers, Islam is the second largest and fastest-growing religion in the world. To speak of the world of Islam today is to refer not only to countries that stretch from North Africa to Southeast Asia but also to Muslim minority communities that exist across the globe. Thus, for example, Islam is the second or third largest religion in Europe and the Americas.' This is an accessible volume -- technical terms have been kept to a minimum, and the writing is cast in a readable, narrative format. Yet this volume is still of good service to scholars and specialists, with indexing and chapter topics that are arranged conceptually as well as chronologically. Including both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars, the contributors are experts in different disciplines and come from a variety of national and religious backgrounds. The first section of the book covers the beginnings of Islam: the development of faith and scripture in the Koran, community and institutional development, early personalities in Islam, and contributions to art and science. Included in this section is the early interactions of Christianity and Islam, which have provided in many ways the continuing framework of tension between the West and the Muslim world. The second section of the book looks at the decline of Islam as an 'imperial' religion, and the splintering of the Muslim world into kingdoms, sultanates and smaller bodies inside other political structures -- these various groupings provided different bases for Islam, which in turn developed differing regional expressions in terms of practice and outlook. The next sections address the developments of colonialism and the post-colonial problems and opportunities that face Islam, both in political and religious terms, as well as the relationship of Islam to the modern world both at it impacts Islam in countries officially Muslim as well as in more pluralistic nations. 'At the dawn of the twenty-first century, Islam is indeed a global presence that blurs old distinctions between the Muslim world and the West. Islam is truly a world religion, necessitating coverage of both Islam and the West and Islam in the West.' Tracing an early history of Islam presents many of the same problems encountered in doing such for any religion -- to what extent can the scholars remain objective? What does objectivity mean? To what extent can scriptural and traditional sources of stories be regarded as historically authoritative, and to what extent have details been changed to achieve other, more religious ends? Little is known (in the historically authoritative sense) about the Prophet Muhammad's early life. Apart from the Koran, most of the texts with historical information about Muhammad and the early years of Islam were recorded later, perhaps (like the New Testament or the Hebrew Scriptures) by people who chose to emphasise some items and overlook other details that do not conform with what modern scholars are hoping for in their research. Well indexed, with timelines and other reference aids, this is a great volume for scholarly work as well as for interesting reading about this religion which impacts with great importance on the world scene. Many Christians tend to forget that Islam grows out the traditions of worship of the God of Abraham, the same God worshipped by Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. This is a wonderful volume -- for the typical Western reader, if you were to only read one book on Islam, this would be it!
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have!
Review: Read very closely: If you want to study Islam's history and you don't have this book, then your missing one of the best...or should I say "the" best book on Islam's history. This book is worth much more than 50$. It discusses everything, from history to science, art to medicine, it is very well-written too. And even if your just looking for basic history events, this book is still a must-have.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have!
Review: Read very closely: If you want to study Islam's history and you don't have this book, then your missing one of the best...or should I say "the" best book on Islam's history. This book is worth much more than 50$. It discusses everything, from history to science, art to medicine, it is very well-written too. And even if your just looking for basic history events, this book is still a must-have.
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