Masters explores the history of Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire and how their identities evolved over four hundred years. While early communities lived within the hierarchy of Muslim law, the nineteenth century witnessed radical change. In response to Western influences, conflict erupted between Muslims and Christians across the empire. This marked the beginning of tensions that informed the rhetoric of religious fundamentalism in the empire's successor states throughout the twentieth century. Thus Masters negotiates the present through the past, contributing to our understanding of...

Prominent scholars in gender studies and the critical studies of men consider herein how varied institutional settings and policy influence the development of new models of fatherhood, and determine choices. The authors provide new insights from different historical and societal perspectives into the studies of men as gendered subjects, including the role of transnational and global issues on the practices of fatherhood, and the emergence of men's movements in contesting and reimaging fatherhood.

Friedmann's study sheds light on medieval attitudes to religious tolerance.

This book considers the economic, social and political importance of the silk trade in Safavid Iran. It focuses on four aspects of this trade: the role of silk in Iranian commercial policy, the interaction between agents of the state and foreign merchants, the routes along which silk was transported and, critically, the economic and social difficulties that contributed to the collapse of the regime in the 1720s. This represents a major contribution to the current debates on the social and economic history of the premodern world.

Why and under what circumstances did the religion of Islam emerge in a remote part of Arabia at the beginning of the seventh century? Traditional scholarship maintains that Islam developed in opposition to the idolatrous and polytheistic religion of the Arabs of Mecca and the surrounding regions. In this study of pre-Islamic Arabian religion, G. R. Hawting adopts a comparative religious perspective to suggest an alternative view. By examining the various bodies of evidence which survive from this period, the Koran and the vast resources of the Islamic tradition, the author argues that in fact...

The study of early Islamic history has flourished in recent years. Chase Robinson's book takes full account of the latest research, interweaving history and historiography to interpret the political, social, and economic transformations in the Mesopotamian region after the Islamic conquests. Using Arabic and Syriac sources, the author focuses on the Muslim and Christian elites, demonstrating that significant social change took place only at the end of the seventh century. This is a sophisticated study at the cutting-edge of a burgeoning field in Islamic studies.

The reigns of the caliph Harun al-Rashid and his successor al-Ma'mun have long been viewed as the golden age of the medieval Islamic caliphate. Yet how did chroniclers represent this crucial period? Tayeb El-Hibri's book applies a new literary-critical reading to the sources to demonstrate how medieval narrators devised various elusive ways of shedding light on controversial religious, political and social issues, while ostensibly presenting a history loyal to the 'Abbasid dynasty. This is an important book that represents a landmark in the field of early Islamic historiography.

For over half a millennium the Mamluks wielded power over Egypt. During this time they formed a remarkable political, military and economic elite, ruling as sovereigns from 1250 to 1517 and, after the Ottoman conquest, regaining much of their former influence under Turkish supremacy. In this collection of essays, some of the most distinguished scholars in the field provide an accessible introduction to the structure of political power under the Mamluks and its economic foundations. The essays also offer a unique insight into the Mamluk households and their relationship with the indigenous...

By focusing on Mamluk Cairo, Adam Sabra explores the attitude of medieval Muslims to poverty and the experience of being poor in an Islamic society. He also considers the role of pious endowments (waqfs) in sustaining the poor. In this way the book affords fascinating insights into a world far removed from elite society, hitherto the focus of Mamluk studies. This trend, in conjunction with comparisons offered between the Islamic world, Europe and China, will entice a broad range of scholars from within the field and beyond.

The Delhi Sultanate was the first Islamic state to be established in India. This book traces its history from 1210 to its demise at the sack of Delhi in 1400. While the focus is on military and political affairs, the book also explores the Sultans' relations with their non-Muslim subjects. As a first comprehensive treatment of the period, the book will make a significant contribution to medieval Indo-Muslim history. Students of Islamic and Indian history, and interested general readers, will find it a valuable resource.