Why read When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World?

Book cover of When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World: The Rise and Fall of Islam's Greatest Dynasty

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A "remarkable narrative history" (The Times) of the dynasty that ruled from Baghdad during Islam's greatest era The "golden age of Islam" in the eighth and ninth centuries was as significant to world history as the Roman Empire was in the first and second centuries. Islamic culture and enterprise stretched…

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Why read it?

1 author picked When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Wayne H. Bowen

Author

Few cities in history have had powerful claims to be at the center of the world: Rome in the ancient world, Constantinople in the early Middle Ages, London in the late 19th century, and Washington during the early Cold War. To this we need to add another city: Baghdad from the 9th to 11th centuries. Not only was it at the center of the most powerful and united Islamic dynasty, it accumulated and created the greatest library and center for learning in world history. With an empire stretching from India to North Africa, the Abbasids were the hub for global…

From Wayne's list on the history of the Middle East.