Arabs : A 3,000-Year History of Peoples, Tribes and Empires / Tim Mackintosh-Smith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mackintosh-Smith, Tim, 1961- Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Arabic language--Social aspects.

Arabic language.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (681 pages)

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

A riveting, comprehensive history of the Arab peoples and tribes that explores the role of language as a cultural touchstone This kaleidoscopic book covers almost 3,000 years of Arab history and shines a light on the footloose Arab peoples and tribes who conquered lands and disseminated their language and culture over vast distances. Tracing this process to the origins of the Arabic language, rather than the advent of Islam, Tim Mackintosh-Smith begins his narrative more than a thousand years before Muhammad and focuses on how Arabic, both spoken and written, has functioned as a vital source of shared cultural identity over the millennia. Mackintosh-Smith reveals how linguistic developments-from pre-Islamic poetry to the growth of script, Muhammad's use of writing, and the later problems of printing Arabic-have helped and hindered the progress of Arab history, and investigates how, even in today's politically fractured post-Arab Spring environment, Arabic itself is still a source of unity and disunity.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Foreword. The Wheel and the Hourglass

Introduction. Gathering the Word

Emergence. 900 BC-AD 600

Revolution. 600-630

Dominance. 630-900

Decline. 900-1350

Eclipse. 1350-1800

Re-Emergence. 1800-Now

Afterword. In the Station of History

Chronology

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 06. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

0-300-18235-X

OCLC:

1089126294