Book cover of In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire

Book description

A SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER

'A stunning blockbuster' Robert Fisk

'A compelling detective story of the highest order' Sunday Times

In the 6th century AD, the Near East was divided between two great empires: the Persian and the Roman. A hundred years on, and one had vanished for ever,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked In the Shadow of the Sword as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Tom Holland’s excellent series of contextual historical books bring a rare quality, seeking beyond boundaries to understand the sweep of civilisation across continents. This book focuses on the period we call The Dark Ages in the West, from the Fall of Rome to the rise of the Anglo Saxons. But in Asia and the Middle East literature, science and religion flourished, just as the Vikings raided and traded through Europe across to Arabia where eventually they encountered the great cultures of the East.

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Book cover of The Arab Bureau: The Story of Britain’s Most Ingenious Intelligence Unit

The Arab Bureau by Eamonn Gearon,

During the First World War, an extraordinary intelligence unit operated from Cairo's Savoy Hotel, combining archaeologists, academics, and soldiers to revolutionize British intelligence in the Middle East. Overshadowed by Lawrence of Arabia, the Arab Bureau's significance has remained hidden ever since.

This study uncovers the Bureau's story through newly discovered…

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