IN THE SHADOW OF THE SWORD: THE BIRTH OF AND THE RISE OF THE GLOBAL ARAB EMPIRE PDF, EPUB, EBOOK

Tom Holland | 526 pages | 02 May 2013 | Three Rivers Press | 9780307473653 | English | New York, United States In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire PDF Book But Holland is at his most irresponsible when he turns to the Meccan origins of Islam Readers also enjoyed. I am a novice when it comes to historical reading so this may have been too advanced for me. The author has vividly brought the ancient Eastern Roman and Persian empires back to life For example, the only proscribes prayer three times a day, whereas Zoroastrianism requires five. See details. Nothing was more alarming to him than the notion propagated by the enemies of his faith that it was something upstart and contingent, a mere distorted echo of more venerable traditions. All is written in Holland's slightly purple suspense-building style which is fine, but i would rather have had the full meal on the shaky foundations of Islam promised by the title, subtitle and intro. If I have a complaint, it's that the book perhaps to try to tell too big a story in too short a space - historical figures appear and disappear with minimal introduction and I wonder if someone already more familiar with the of the period might have got more out of the book. A reader like myself who is not very familiar with Islam will be unaware of those influences and connections. Hardcover , pages. Tom Holland author. In his opinion, the clues are to be found beyond the deserts of Arabia, where Islam is said to have originated. It was not a terrible book. Jan 21, Omar Ali rated it really liked it. Enlarge cover. I wish we had one historian within the Islamic domain with balls enough to tackle such interesting issues instead of hiding behind the huge and comfortable but undefinable 'wall of faith'. He also re-minted Imperial coins in Arabic instead of Greek and had Arabic become the defacto language of administration. Yet he makes it unmistakably his own. Eventually they became abnormally holy leaders and quite powerful. The same can be said is true for the values associated with certain things, like books, which before had been of little use. The mists of history leave a lot of questions unanswered for those brave souls who seek the source where everything comes from. Was it even Islam as we know it at the beginning? This book does not disappoint in those areas. Become a LibraryThing Author. In that respect, In the Shadow of the Sword did not disappoint. Holland's cavalier treatment of his sources, ignorance of current research and lack of linguistic and historical acumen serve to undermine his provocative narrative. The sixth century ad defies precise categorisation. Marshaling its resources with dexterity, it is a veritable tour de force. Holland shows how Islam rose not only as a political force as much as a religious one, but that it was a melange of the Hebraic history of the Arabian peninsula as foreshadowed by that introduction with King Yusuf , the Manichaeism of late Iranshahr Sassania , along with influences from others in the area such as the Biblically maligned Samaritans, the philosophy generated by the Christian schisms and the close textual analysis and argumentation of the Jewish yeshivas. He's got a weird obsession with a word -- which, shamefully, I've forgotten -- that means "to wall in or around. Theologians and ancient history specialists may quibble about the book or parts of it but this general reader liked and likes it. Even Zoroastrian priests, often scorned by the "People of the Book" and brushed aside as pagans, had their say. The scope of this book is very broad - Holland attempts to show the links early Islam has with the other religions it came into contact with: Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Christianity in particular, and how these religions influenced the hadith and the Qu'ran itself. Happy to report that has been the case, as in 3 days I'm already past the halfway point. Other editions. Holland keeps rigidly to the deconstructionist interpretation, indeed pushes out the boundaries with some rather wild suggestions A so-called 'black hole' of years gapes wide open between the lifetime of and his first biography. Holland does a good job of showing how they could have, except for the battles involved, which he glosses over though which seem to have little to no sources to describe them anyway. I agree on the importance of context. Related Products. If it looks back to the world of classical civilisation, then so also does it look forward to the world of the Crusades. Holland has crafted a well-researched tome here and a tome much closer to an academic text than anything 'popular' and well-paced. In both accounts the politicization of religion and vice versa are discussed in depth, with more insight in the case of the Romans than the Persian. Overall, a decent, if somewhat dry, overview of the evolution of Islam. In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire Writer

So I was grateful for that but this book was wholly inefficient in that regard. Its a well-written book all the way through, and really shakes up the normal perception of this period. See what I did there? The book moves along well in the beginning and middle. This is perhaps there to give context, but is hard work dealing with myriad obscure groupings and short-lived dynasties. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Take, for instance, the region immediately to the north of Arabia: the land we know today as Iraq. When that became uncomfortably blasphemous, the rock was said to be the launch pad for Muhammed's ride into the heavens. Extended Forecast: Global Chaos As the repercussions of climate interference spiral out of control, with All of which sets the A history of late antiquity with a heavy emphasis on the birth of Islam and the rising tide of Islamic power. I have just read a pretty damning review by Zia Uddin Sardar in which he tries to take Tom's effort apart. The most "controversial" part of the book deals with modern thinking on the prophet Muhammad. We then move into the more critical second half of the book which re-examines and asks probing questions about the existant sources for the beginnings of Islam. The defenders had been cornered, engaged and routed. Refresh and try again. View Product. His story is so compellingly told that it could almost be Dan Brown, except that Holland writes brilliantly, with a simultaneously dashing, meticulous and at times ravishingly camp style, and his tale is true. Namespaces Article Talk. I've given this 4 stars, but I wish my rating could've been a bit more nuanced. Holland does highlight how little we actually know about the early s in northern and northwest Arabia, and how very, very few contemporary accounts there are of the first generation of Islam. Interestingly there are two titles to this book, which speaks volumes for it. But at the end, he loses track ever so slightly as he keeps the narrative going, and the book peters out rather than ends with a bang. Rating details. Rather like the scientist in the classic horror film The Fly, who ends up a mutant combination of human and insect, the world of late antiquity can seem, from our own perspective, peculiarly hybrid. This is a handsome volume, tackling an important question from a novel perspective, backed by useful notes and written in an accessible and fluid style. He also re-minted Imperial coins in Arabic instead of Greek and had Arabic become the defacto language of administration. He often quotes contemporaries fantastical view of events straight up when it is quite obvious he is slightly mocking them, which is fine once in a while but it becomes repetitious shtick 2. Few were more notorious among the Christians than Yusuf. Holland is a skillful writer, and while I was mostly unfamiliar with this period of Western History I never tended to get too lost. The author's style isn't bad but it wasn't a credit to the story either. Yet, their very age served only to highlight how profoundly they were coming to slip the moorings of their past. No less significant than the collapse of the or the Persian invasion of Greece, the evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narratives of ancient history, a story dazzlingly rich in The acclaimed author of Rubicon and other superb works of popular history now produces a thrillingly panoramic and incredibly timely account of the rise of Islam. Amazon Kindle 0 editions. Add to Your books. The impact of the revolution that it witnessed still reverberates today. The Persian section was specially enlightening for me. Just like the Romans, the Arabs came from nowhere; yet by , when the Prophet Muhammad is supposed to have died, all the tribes of the Arabian peninsula had come to acknowledge the authority of his teachings. Identity was coming to be defined, not by the kingdoms of this world, but by various conceptions of the One, the Only God: by "monotheisms. Their main home, before the Muslim conquest, was the deserts of Syria and Palestine. Click on the link under the Add to Cart button. Himyar itself, despite having prospered for some six centuries until its final overthrow under Yusuf, lacks the ready brand recognition today of a Babylon, or an Athens, or a Rome. He has written many books, both fiction and non-fiction, on many subjects from vampires to history. Holland remedies that with this exhaustive look at the forces that helped to create modern Islam. In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire Reviews

Swap 21 want. No coins, no inscriptions, nothing. Overall a grand sweep of the late antique near east and what became of it, very well researched and entertainingly told, though in the end the narrative lacks focus while the conclusion felt weak and abrupt. We know now, as their contemporaries did not, that ruin was stalking both the rival empires. To Hillos In memoriam. Yet, in every case, the empire's collapse resulted in the forging of new identities, new values, new presumptions. Thanks for telling us about the problem. He says that no contemporary accounts of the life of Muhammad are known and that much of what is understood about him comes from writings two hundred years after his death. A book of two halves, both equally compelling. Few were more notorious among the Christians than Yusuf. He manages to make us think about whether or not was the original shrine of Islam, whether the body of lore "The Hadith" was ever quotes from the Prophet, instead of a body of opportunistic rulings by a priestly class trying to evolve a workable institution, and whether the lack of prior writings of a religious nature in Arabic or stemming from the inhabitants of the Arabian Desert, is not the result of a rigorous intellectual cleansing of contentious or competing strains of religious writing from that area by the Abbasid dynasty bent on totalitarian rule. Feb 16, Karla rated it liked it Shelves: ebook. The Dallas Morning News. I have been looking for a book that will present a relatively unbiased look at the real history of Arabia and the rise of Islam on to the world stage. A group of virgins, hurrying to join them, had hurled themselves on to the flames, crying defiantly as they did so how sweet it was to breathe in "the scent of burning priests! Here, Holland covers a far more complex and controversial era of history, the world of late antiquity centred on what we now refer to as the Middle East. It is, in fact, a very readable survey of the Middle East and Fertile Crescent in the first eight centuries A. In short, Holland comes across as the historian, whereas Bowersock's review reeks of somebody afraid to rock the boat. It was at times very hard to read and keep track of whatever was going on, who was who and where was where. Holland presents this account more as story than as a laying forth of the evidence, making his book not only accessible but delightful to those who will never work their way through the scholarly debates over the origins of Islam. Rating details. . I am a novice when it comes to historical reading so this may have been too advanced for me. Holland writes with the skepticism of a secular historian, but his prose is shot through with wit and empathy. In this exciting and sweeping history—the third in his trilogy of books on the ancient world—Holland describes how the Arabs emerged to carve out a stupefyingly vast dominion in a matter of decades, overcoming seemingly insuperable odds to create an imperial civilization aspects of which endure to the present day.

In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire Read Online

To trace the course of that evolution might therefore be to fathom the secrets of its success. I plan to read Persian Fire next as I said earlier I am an overall fan of the author just not this book so much. I enjoyed very much reading about the Roman and Persian empires, their conflicts, governance, and ways of life, and also about the rise of Islam and the conflicts among early Islamic factions, and their coming to power as a significant military force in the 8th and 9th centuries. A so-called 'black hole' of years gapes wide open between the lifetime of Muhammad and his first biography. Voltaire: Often quoted advocate of freedom of expression. We encounter brain-eating demons; a caliph with such oral-hygiene problems that he could kill a fly with one breath; and that old favourite, St Simeon Stylites, rotting away on his pillar but still managing to miraculously cure a man with unfeasibly large testicles, "like a pair of clay jars". The only point where he parts company with the faithful is in his refusal to accept divine intervention as history. Wilson "A book that really held me, in fact, obsessed me. Apr 19, DoctorM rated it really liked it Shelves: dar-al-islam , history-and-historiography. Sep 17, Alice Meloy rated it liked it. Holland's treatment of the religions is never less than respectful. View 2 comments. The same can be said is true for the values associated with certain things, like books, which before had been of little use. Martyrdoms such as these, feted though they were by the Church, could not readily be forgiven. Rather like the scientist in the classic horror film The Fly, who ends up a mutant combination of human and insect, the world of late antiquity can seem, from our own perspective, peculiarly hybrid. Worth a read. This case book provides examples of multi-stakeholder partnerships that aim to create sustainable enterprises for KateVane Jan 26, Christianity, Eusebius presumed, had existed since the dawn of time: "For, obviously, we must regard the religion proclaimed in recent years to every nation through Christ's teaching as none other than the first, the most ancient, and the most primitive of religions. Holland presents a time period that I knew little about and weaves together the strands of history to provide a complex yet compelling story. Holland confronts questions in the Quranic text head-on, providing a substantive, fluid exegesis on the original documents. I wold have liked much more of this, but Holland goes off after the first section on a huge digression which forms the bulk of the book; we get detailed of Byzantium down to what Theodora wanted to do with her tits , of Iran including every fratricidal feud and Aryan assassination, and of Central asian tribes without number. An interesting book, but you will likely learn much more about pre-Islamic Persia and Byzantium than about early Islam The book reads like a documentary, with a lot of emphasis on story-telling, and though this makes the book very readable, I found it a bit irksome to deal with all the incomplete sentences that start many of his paragraphs. Even the Persians, far from venerating the truth about their glorious imperial heritage, had begun to obscure and distort it. Identity was coming to be defined, not by the kingdoms of this world, but by various conceptions of the One, the Only God: by "monotheisms. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. He hints at but doesn't really answer the question he posed at the beginning - what are the origins of the Quran and Islam and who is the Mohammed character? This was the core presumption of the age; and a history of late antiquity that neglects to pay due acknowledgement to it is a history that has failed. By the time the end of a sentence was reached, so many clauses had been introduced that it was no longer clear what it was trying to convey and had to be read again. Refresh and try again. About Tom Holland. All topics Hot topics All discussions Join to start using. He has written his book in a swashbuckling style that aims more to unsettle his readers than to instruct them. This book would have been better if Holland had done a better job "connecting the dots" between Islam and its preceding influences. However, most of the book was a detailed history of Christianity, Judeaism, and some other minor religions from about AD through the 8th or 9th centuries, a few hundred years after the time of Mo Not what I expected but I enjoyed it very much, even though, because of work needs it took me five weeks to get through it. There is also tantalising and very well researched scholarship in here about the historicity of the Koran, early Muslim historiography, etc, but while the author presents these very compellingly he doesn't weave it well into the overall direction of the book. Have a question about this product? Members save with free shipping everyday! Holland also emphasizes Mecca's perennial aridity, which is in stark contrast to its description in the Quran: an agricultural paradise teeming with olive trees. Showing He's got a weird obsession with a word -- which, shamefully, I've forgotten -- that means "to wall in or around. To ask other readers questions about In the Shadow of the Sword , please sign up. Have questions about eBooks? Apart from the obvious flaws of spending too much time in setting the stage than in actual perusal of early years of Islam the real fault of the book lies in the biased presentation of the stories of different faiths. His forte is the decline of the late Roman and Persian empires and we receive another telling of this time with the specific outlook on how it impacted the Arabian Peninsula. Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Or at least that the historical evidence that it did is far from conclusive. Tom Holland author.

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