The New Cambridge History of Islam

Volume 2 of The New Cambridge History of Islam is devoted to the history of the Western Islamic lands from the political fragmentation of the eleventh century to the beginnings of European colonialism towards the end of the eighteenth century. The volume embraces a vast area from al-Andalus and North Africa to Arabia and the lands of the Ottomans. In the first four sections scholars all leaders in their particular fields - chart the rise and fall and explain the political and religious developments of the various independent ruling dynasties across the region including famously the Almohads the Fatimids and Mamluks and of course the Ottomans. The final section of the volume explores the commonalities and continuities that united these diverse and geographically disparate communities through in-depth analyses of state formation conversion taxation scholarship and the military.