A History of the Arab Peoples: With a New Afterword

This is not light reading, it is an academic, extensive history of the Arab peoples covering pre-Islamic times through the 20th century. If you are looking to acquire knowledge of the The Arab culture and the rise of Islam in detail, this is an excellent book to start with. It is a classic textbook on the subject.

This is a great asset to my personal library. It is informative, well documented, and scholarly, while at the same time fascinating reading. It has been an enormous help to me as I am studying the cultural-geopolitical history of the Mideast. It is next to impossible to understand the ongoing problems of the Mideast without understanding the history of the Arabs, Iranians and Jewish settlers of that region. This fine book covers the Arab history splendidly.

Albert Hourani's meticulously woven and mellifluously written narrative about the Arab peoples, their history and culture, is a must read for anyone who pretends to be speaking about contemporary issues plaguing the Middle East. A classic like this can only be written by an indigenous Arab who understands the complexity of the issues and has a very clear perception of what underlies modern day ailments. Written with grace, sensitivity and incisive scholarity,this book should be on the bookshelves of every university in the world.

Distinguished Lebanese-American historian Albert Hourani presents this book that might seem comprehensive to the Westerners but concise to the Arabs. Hourani tries to cover most of the history of the Arab peoples, but this is certainly no easy task. He ends up quickly surveying this history. Despite its brevity, Hourani's volume is a reference work par excellence. Hourani is well read and his book is well researched. His style is inviting even if the massive number of dates and names might discourage some people who are not familiar with the Arab region. The book is essential for all Westerners interested in the Arabs and their region. It is history 101 for all those who are willing to embark on such an endeavor. The book is also helpful to Arabs who are not familiar with their history. Overall, the book is a good read even if it might seem academic and a bit boring as you read it. Of course readers have to keep in mind that writing history is an objective exercise that is never free of the writer's bias. In some instance, Hourani seems to give credit to one group at the favor of another. However, this is history. It is the most probable version from the perspective of its writer.

Very interesting book but long, I had been checking it out of the local library and renewing... than looked on Amazon. Fast delivery and great value / excellent condition and now I can take my time reading it.

How close to 500 pages and 1500 years that's one page for every three years chock-full of info

I love reading history and enjoyed this immensely. It was eye-opening as to the many different groups that make up the Muslim world.

After reading it I do not feel I know more about the history of the Arab people. Not a history of facts but more an history of a culture

Great book. Must read for those interested in Middle eastern history, culture and social like. Had Western politicians read Hourani they would not have committed the follies of the first decade of the twenty first century!

I purchased this book in order to gain some insight into Arab history as a part of my university course, and this book did just that. Albert Hourani is an eloquent historian. His style of prose, vast knowledge and expertise and occasional traces of humour make this vast volume enjoyable to read, study - or even both. The book is very ambitious in undertaking to cover the entire period of Arab civilisation, beginning with the Arabian tribes before their unification by Muhammad and his successors, and ending with some of the hotly contested topics of modern Arab history. It provides an essential and perfect companion to any student at university level, looking at Arab, Muslim, Turkish or Ottoman history. It covers the most important stages of Arab civilisation with great skill and ability: the unification, the expansion and conquest, the golden age, the Crusades and so forth - not limited however, just to Arabs. Hourani provides a lucid account of transformations in, for example, the Ottoman Empire, after its conquests of the 16th century incorporated almost the entire eastern Arab world within the Empire. Overall, I thoroughly recommend this scholarly book, written beautifully and doing exactly what it purports to do.

The son of Lebanese immegrants, Hourani grew up in England in a Christian family which had converted from Greek-orthodox to Scottish Presbyterian faith; Hourani himself later converted to catholicism. Thus one might expect to find an "orientalist" view. Yet Edward Said who is famous for his critical study "Orientalism" (1978) wrote approvingly of Hourani's book. Indeed it is highly digestable. Drawing on a large variety of sources, it places the Arab history within a larger context of world history, while giving access to lots of Arabic sources. Maybe the most valuable thing about this book for Western readers is that Hourani appears to look beyond the "common" sources and give names and texts otherwise omitted that shed an extra light on his subject; also he analyzes aspects, like urban life, which are highly significant but rarely highlighted by other authors of such general overviews. Finally, after the Arab Spring and its aftermath, one marvells at his final chapter on the "fragility of regimes". Was he right? The question is subject to future developments and, alas, to attitude.

Erfrischende Beschreibung der Entwicklung des arabischen Kulturraums, ohne die zurzeit übliche 9/11-Verzerrung, da der Autor beizeiten das Zeitliche gesegnet hat. Auch die engstirnige Fixierung auf den Israelisch-Palästinensischen Konflikt bleibt einem erspart. So bleibt der Blick frei, für 14.Jahrhunderte arabischer Geschichte: verwoben zu einem großmaschigen Teppich aus soziologischen, historischen und religiösen Aspekten und Fakten, der die Interdependenz betont. Stets bleibt die Darstellung sachlich und ausgewogen, Breite erhält den Vorzug vor Tiefe - kein unnötig verschwurbeltes Fakten sezieren. Aggressives Agitieren und das chronologische, monokausale Abarbeiten von Ereignissen wird weitgehend vezichtet, was viele Leser historischer Werke irritieren mag, die es gewohnt sind, dass ein Datum ans andere gereiht wird wie auf einer Perlenkette.

This book is incredibly well written; insightful and engaging. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the development of the Middle East, or the Near East as it is referred to as well.