Ira M Lapidus Knihy

A History of Islamic Societies provides an authoritative and comprehensive treatment of the civilisations and patterns of life of Muslims throughout the world. Part I deals with the formative era of Islamic civilisation from the revelation of the Qur'an to the Thirteenth century and examines the transformation of Islam from a complex of doctrines and cultural systems into the organising principles of Middle Eastern Society. Part II traces the creation of similar societies in the Balkans, North Africa, Central Asia, China, India, Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Part III considers the transformation of these societies under the forces of technological change, industrial revolution and European imperialism. It describes the emergence of modern economies, national states and secular ideologies in Muslim countries and seeks to assess the role of past Islamic institutions and present Islamic movements in the shaping of contemporary Muslim society.

First published in 1967, Muslim Cities in the Later Middle Ages is one of the most influential works in the field of Islamic history. Primarily a study of the main cities of the Mamluk state of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries AD, Professor Lapidus' book serves to provide a framework for understanding the long evolution of Muslim political and social institutions and urban societies.