“Professor Spuler, one of the outstanding German historians of our time … [has produced] one of the best manuals in Muslim history. The main difference between his work and other surveys of Muslim history lies in the wealth of material which he has been able to embody in a small number of pages. … An excellent translation. … The illustrative maps deserve a special mention for the help they offer as a guide to the reader.”
—Middle East Forum
“In this concise history of the Muslim countries [which begins with Rome and Persia and pre-Islamic Bedouins and] ends with the fall of Bagdad to the Mongols (1258), in the West with that of Granada to the Christians (1492), Spuler has provided the educated reader with a reliable presen-tation. The author has succeeded in unraveling the many motivations and influences that went into the making of Islamic history and in lucidly expounding and evaluating them. A highly important feature of the book are the six maps that combine, most happily, political with religious and economic information . . . a well-planned volume.”
—Journal of Near Eastern Studies