Overview

The period from about 1100 to 1350 in the Middle East was marked by continued interaction between the local Muslim rulers and two groups of non-Muslim invaders: the Frankish crusaders from Western Europe and the Mongols from Northeastern Asia. In deflecting the threat those invaders presented a major role was played by the Mamluk state which arose in Egypt and Syria in 1250. The Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies has, from 1917 onwards, published several articles pertaining to the history of this period by leading historians of the region, and this volume reprints some of the more important and interesting of them for the convenience for students and scholars. In making the selection the interests of those who are not specialists in the history of the Middle East and may not know the languages of the region have been taken into account. This volume will be of interest to historians of medieval Europe who are concerned with the Crusades as well to those interested in the Middle East and the Mongols. The papers here reprinted include discussion on Arabic and other sources for the period (including the controversial Travels' of Marco Polo), innovative studies of military, diplomatic, administrative and other issues, and wider treatments of such things as the image of Saladin and historiography on the Mongol Empire. An Introduction by the editor puts the papers in an historical and scholarly context.

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9780700713936

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Gerald R. Hawting is Head of the History Department and Professor in the History of the Near and Middle East at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. His special interest and most of his publications relate to the early development of Islam in the Middle East.

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