The Great Islamic Conquests AD 632-750

by David Nicolle

Overview

Few military campaigns in history have been as dramatic, as successful, or as far-reaching as the early Islamic conquests. Emerging from a tribal area of Arabia sandwiched between two great empires, the forces of the new religion soon destroyed one empire and humbled another. Within a century, the Islamic realm had borders with France in the west and with India and China in the east, and this new civilization was on the cusp of a great 'Golden Age' of cultural and scientific blossoming. Yet although Islam's early conquests rank with those of Alexander the Great and the Roman Caesars, its achievements have arguably outlasted both, with large parts of the world still retaining the language, influences and religion that the conquests brought.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780969985
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	06/20/2012
Series:	Essential Histories , #71
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	96
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Born in 1944, David Nicolle worked in the BBC's Arabic service for a number of years before gaining an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, and a doctorate from Edinburgh University. He has written numerous books and articles on medieval and Islamic warfare, and has been a prolific author of Osprey titles for many years. The author lives in Leicestershire, UK.

Table of Contents

Introduction 7

Chronology 9

Background to war: Pre-Islamic Arabia 13

Outbreak: The birth of Islam and the unifying of Arabia 19

The warring sides: Armies of the Middle East and the Mediterranean 26

The fighting: A rising religion meets tired empires 48

Portrait of a soldier: Two warriors of Arabia 63

From conquest to empire: The Umayyad century 66

How the war ended: The fall of the Umayyad dynasty 76

The world around the war: Architecture and religion 80

Portrait of a civilian: A man of letters and a man of God 86

Conclusion 90

Further reading 92

Index 94