Arab civilization to A.D. 1500

The declared aim of the work under review is to provide a lucid account and to convey an over-all picture of the richness and vigor of Islamic culture for the non-specialist "by concentrating on the literature, history, and philosophy of the early empire." Accordingly, the author picks up the thread for literature with pre-Islamic poetry; history, with early Muslim Arab accounts of Biblical legend; geography, both mathematical and descriptive, with Strabo and Ptolemy, explaining also Indian and Chinese connections and Muslim maritime activities in the Atlantic and the Pacific; philosophy, -with such forerunners as John the Grammarian; and science, with representatives of the Jundishapur school. Yet in spite of reaching for the roots, very rarely is the reader treated to that promised "sound introduction to Arab civilization and its salient features during many prolific centuries." -- From JSTOR http://www.jstor.org/stable/599368 (May 2, 2013).