Byzantium and the early Islamic conquests / Walter E. Kaegi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kaegi, Walter Emil, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Byzantine Empire--History--527-1081.

Byzantine Empire.

Islamic Empire--History--622-661.

Islamic Empire.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 313 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

Byzantium & the Early Islamic Conquests

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Summary:

This is a study of how and why the Byzantine Empire lost many of its most valuable provinces to Islamic (Arab) conquerors in the seventh century, provinces which included Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Armenia. It investigates conditions on the eve of those conquests, mistakes in Byzantine policy toward the Arabs, the course of the military campaigns, and the problem of local official and civilian collaboration with the Muslims. It also seeks to explain how, after terrible losses, the Byzantine government achieved some intellectual rationalisation of its disasters and began the complex process of transforming and adapting its fiscal and military institutions and political controls in order to prevent further disintegration.

Contents:

The problem of Byzantium and the early Islamic conquests

The Byzantine Empire in an era of accelerating change

Difficulties in devising defences for Syria

The first Muslim penetrations of Byzantine territory

Early tests in southern Palestine

Problems of cohesion: the battle of Jabiya-Yarmuk reconsidered

The brief struggle to save northern Syria and Byzantine Mesopotamia

Byzantium, Armenia, Armenians, and early Islamic conquests

Controversy and confidence in the seventh-century crisis

Elements of failure and endurance.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-511-87974-1

1-139-88188-4

1-107-38490-7

1-107-38369-2

1-107-39013-3

1-107-39855-X

0-511-47061-4

0-511-95359-3