A History of the Muslim World, Michael A. Cook
A History of the Muslim World, Michael A. Cook
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A History of the Muslim World
From Its Origins to the Dawn of Modernity

Author: Michael A. Cook

Narrator: Ric Jerrom

Unabridged: 52 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/07/2024


Synopsis

This audiobook narrated by Ric Jerrom traces the panoramic history of the Muslim world from the age of the Prophet Muḥammad to the the dawn of the modern era This book describes and explains the major events, personalities, conflicts, and convergences that have shaped the history of the Muslim world. The body of the work takes readers from the origins of Islam to the eve of the nineteenth century, and an epilogue continues the story to the present day. Michael Cook thus provides a broad history of a civilization remarkable for both its unity and diversity. After setting the scene in the Middle East of late antiquity, the book depicts the rise of Islam as one of the great black swan events of history. It continues with the spectacular rise of the Caliphate, an empire that by the time it broke up had nurtured the formation of a new civilization. The book then goes on to cover the diverse histories of all the major regions of the Muslim world, providing a wide-ranging account of the major military, political, and cultural developments that accompanied the eastward and westward spread of Islam from the Middle East to the shores of the Atlantic and the Pacific. At the same time, A History of the Muslim World deploys numerous quotations deriving from primary sources. These expose the reader to a variety of voices from the Muslim past, and what they have to say can be acutely intelligent and insightful.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Cristian on June 23, 2024

This is a monster book. Ambitious in its purpose but very difficult to keep it entertaining. A history of Muslim people from its beginnings to modern times is no easy task so it is totally understandable to miss some aspects and waste time on some others. This book focuses on state formation and evo......more

Goodreads review by Sherif on October 18, 2024

A delightful and masterful historiography and exploration of the expansive and transformative religion of Islam. Emerging as an Arab movement from the East, Islam supplanted the prevailing paganism of the era, uniting diverse peoples under a shared language, culture, and doctrine. It represents one......more

Goodreads review by Andres Felipe on February 05, 2025

Este libro es muy completo, aborda cosas que pocas veces se hablan del Islam como su expansión en África o en océano Índico, además que tiene tésis e ideas que van acordé con las nuevas investigaciones del mundo islámico, de pronto puede llegar a ser pesado en algunos momentos, y los últimos capítul......more

Goodreads review by Songlin on November 05, 2025

This book is perhaps too ambitious in trying to achieve what it intended. I’m usually good at handling long, dense books, but this one is quite beyond me. The author keeps jumping from one place to another — in the first few chapters we start in Arabia, then move to Turkey, Iran, India, Southeast As......more

Goodreads review by Omar Ali on January 14, 2025

An outstanding book. Michael Cook is wiser than he lets on (ie he does not explicitly make big sweeping statements about the lessons of history, but his presentation of the facts is nonetheless based on very sophisticated and wise analysis, which may remain implicit, or he may just hint at the issue......more