PENGUIN Islamic Empires: Fifteen Cities that Define a Civilization

Arrived quickly and in good condition

This is one of the best books written on the history of Islamic empires, from the perspective of the cities that served as imperial capitals. Justin Marozzi is a journalist who brings a lively writing style and a deep knowledge of Islam and history to his book. Each chapter is richly embellished with both long historical sweeps and personal stories of the people who inhabited these cities. The tales involve both terrible tragedy (plague, invasion, and bad rulers) along with incredible progress in science and the arts that marked all of these cities. Marozzi brings these cities to life, adding to my own experiences of walking the streets of Damascus, Jerusalem, Cairo, Fez, Constantinople, Dubai, and Doha. I have read hundreds of books on Islam and Islamic history during my profession, but this one goes to the top of my list as essential reading.

Well written account of the fifteen cities, that together, creates a sweeping history of islamic civilization. I like the injection of personal anecdotes by the author.

Excellent book integrating story-telling with political and religious events across centuries throughout the Islamic world. I visited most of the cities and felt enriched when reading the history of the cities of the various islamic empires. I recommend this book

The author of this non-fiction book writes fifteen chapters, each following the fortunes of a major Islamic city over the course of a century. The first city is Mecca, and the last is Doha. The writing is fluid and easy, though there are a lot of players I have never heard before; Marozzi (the suthor) include and excellent index so that the reader can look up unfamiliar names.Each chapter is about 25 pages. Excellent book, with photos in the center of the book.