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The Arabs: A Short History, by Philip Khuri Hitti
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From the ancient cultures of the Middle East have sprung three of the world's major religions, outstanding accomplishments in literature and science, and seemingly never-ending conflict - compounded now not only by geopolitics, but by the international hunger for oil and the web of global terrorism.
But who are the Arabs, these remarkable people who have accomplished so much and who continue to both fascinate and confront the West?
Philip K. Hitti's eloquent short history is an acknowledged classic offering the best and quickest grasp of Arab history and culture.
Now with a new introduction by renowned MIT historian, Philip Khoury.
- Sales Rank: #1405795 in Books
- Published on: 1996-10-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.36" h x .60" w x 5.42" l, .75 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 273 pages
Most helpful customer reviews
18 of 23 people found the following review helpful.
A great introduction to a wonderful people
By Chris
Philip K. Hitti, of Lebanese Christian descent, the father of modern Near Eastern studies in the United States originally published this book in 1943 as a service to U.S. government personel and others whose interest was becoming focused on the Middle East.
He portrays a people who had a very rich civilization, whose rulers were studying ancient Greek philosophy at the same time Charlemagne and his advisors in Europe were tyring to learn to write their names. The Arabs rescued the artistic and philosophical treasures of Ancient Greece and ancient Persia and developed standards in Medicine, biology, philosophy, architecture, agriculture that were unprecedented in their day. These achievements Hitti says spread into Europe through Spain and Sicily and were the major factor in sparking the European rennaisance. I particularly enjoyed his description of Abassid Baghdad at its heighth. Consider his description of the daily schedule of the "man of learning" or the institution of the "ghilman" the "beardless young boys" who .....well I won't get into that.
He describes the conditions of non-slave non-Moslems as equal though varying depending on the degree of liberalism of the reigning Caliph. At times Jews and Christians had to wear special clothing and fix devils to the fronts of their houses and could not testify against Moslems in court. But more than a few of them rose to high positions in government, in scholarship, in bootlegging. The Jewish community in Baghdad was very active and large and its chief Rabbi was treated with veneration.
What caused this relatively glorious civilization to die? The mongol hordes, unequal distribution of wealth, emergence of new competitors, epidemics, ethnic strife, rulers spending more time amassing personal wealth and fornicating with slaves than attending to pubilic affairs and finally the conquest of much of it by Ottoman Turkey.
Hitti a few times shows a slight chauvanism. I was dissapointed in his lack of treatment of one of the crucial problems in the Arab world, the sectarian feuds within Islam, particularly Sunni-Shia. If I'm not mistaken Shiism was born out of life of the Caliph Ali and his son Hussein. Hitti says absolutely nothing about this when talking about these two men. He only says that Ali, who ruled from 656 to 661, was very popular but was murdered and that his son Hussein was called "the great divorcer" as a result of his having ruined one hundred marriages by his omniverous fornicating which was his prefered activity in life and he had no interest in the caliphate so he ceded it Muawiyah in return for the payment of a lifetime subisidy.
At the end of the book Hitti writes that the Arab people "have thus taken their place among the forward-marching democratic nations of the world and promise to make further contributions to the progress of mankind." It's hard to pin down when exactly that was written but that's obviously a bit too optimistic a statement in todays terms with most of the Arab world dominated by Western backed corrupt and brutal oligarchies. But perhaps its best to keep in mind Hitti's last sentence of the book:"The achievement of the past is the promise of the present for the future."
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
Outdated and of minimal worth
By doc peterson
I heartily echo the poor reviews others give this book. _The Arabs: a short history_ was first published in 1943; why the publisher felt the need to reprint it is a mystery to me, given not only the changes that have taken place in the region, but most significantly in the scholarship that has been done in the last 60 years. This book has not aged well.
First, its few strengths: Hitti does a solid job of explaining Arabia before Mohammed: the culture, societal organization, and the economic and political ties amongst the Bedouin are among the best I have read. To understand Arabic (and by extension, Islamic) civilization, one must first understand the climate from which it was born. In this vein, Hitti also does a tremendous service by connecting these roots of Arabic culture to the growth and expansion of Islam, and the political trials and tribulations of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates.
Sadly, the portions of the book that I found disfavor with outweigh these bright points. To begin with, I found myself regularly shaking my head at his repeated references to "the Arabic race" - race is an artifical construct (unless one speaks of the "human race") - there is no more an Arabic race than there is an American race or any other group you wish to define in racial terms. (To be clear: I am not being "politically correct" here, but merely stating an anthropological and sociological fact that illustrates the vast difference 60 years makes in examining a topic.) Hitti does this not only with Arabs, but with Mamelukes as well (Egyptian slaves under the Fatimids, I know of no serious contemporary historian who would make the claim they were a "race"),
To be fair, Hitti's history is one of "the Arabs" - and therefore Mongols, Turks and Persians are out of the scope of the book, to my disappointment. The primary focus of his history is on the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties, with only a cursory mention of the Fatimids in Egypt. This is another weakness: I can understand his leaving out the later conquests of the Turks and Persians of the Near East - the Fatimids, though, clearly should be a part of his survey and deserved more attention than the scant nod given here. Another shortcomming was his discussion of the sunni/shi'ii split. To virtually ignore such a critical event is akin to discussing the history of Europe without mention of the Reformation.
Even making allowances for the emphasis on the early Muslim dynasties, Hitti's summary of the rise and fall of these families is at times vague, stating that among the reasons for the collapse of the Abbasids was their "luxurious living with its emphasis on wine and song ... (which) sapped the vitality of family life." The complex web of political ties and rivalries, climatic changes and external political forces should have been made much more apparent.
For those interested in a basic primer on the birth and growth of Islam, or who are seeking a brief history of the early Islamic empires, look elsewhere. Hitti was a man of his time, and it shows in his writing. There are better histories of the region available that reflect more recent scholarship and less loaded language than you will find here.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Interesting --- no axe to grind
By A Customer
I found this book interesting and entertaining -- given the time frame when it was written it is less warped and biased by current events and politics. The Ottoman period is missing.
Worth reading.
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