Islam emerged amid flourishing Christian and Jewish cultures; yet students of Antiquity and the Middle Ages mostly ignore it. Despite intensive study of late Antiquity over the last fifty years; even generous definitions of this period have reached only the eighth century; whereas Islam did not mature sufficiently to compare with Christianity or rabbinic Judaism until the tenth century. Before and After Muhammad suggests a new way of thinking about the historical relationship between the scriptural monotheisms; integrating Islam into European and West Asian history.Garth Fowden identifies the whole of the First Millennium--from Augustus and Christ to the formation of a recognizably Islamic worldview by the time of the philosopher Avicenna--as the proper chronological unit of analysis for understanding the emergence and maturation of the three monotheistic faiths across Eurasia. Fowden proposes not just a chronological expansion of late Antiquity but also an eastward shift in the geographical frame to embrace Iran.In Before and After Muhammad; Fowden looks at Judaism; Christianity; and Islam alongside other important developments in Greek philosophy and Roman law; to reveal how the First Millennium was bound together by diverse exegetical traditions that nurtured communities and often stimulated each other.
#1066623 in Books 2011-03-14Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.22 x .91 x 6.06l; 1.15 #File Name: 0691150079376 pages
Review
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Intelligent and highly readable history of the background to the Israeli-Palestinian conflictBy Michael NathansonThere are many narratives of Palestine's history; particularly the roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; many the product of partisan agendas.The "facts" are known; not much new has been unearthed; and it is doubtful that future declassifying of documents will meaningfully change our understanding of the dynamics of the Conflict. Indeed; Gudrun Kramer's "A history of Palestine" makes good use of mostly secondary sources; English; German and Arabic; to clearly and plainly elucidate these dynamics. One need not be a Phi Beta Kappa to understand what took place in Palestine in the past 2 centuries that shaped the conflict as it unfolds today. Kramer's narrative is 'cerebral'; objective and biting. It is equally critical of and sympathetic to the Palestinian Arabs and the Jewish 'Yishuv'. Those who are satisfied by beginning the history of the conflict in 1948 need to dwell on the Peel Commission Report; heavily quoted by Kramer; not too many books do the same. Kramer's book is a major contribution to the vast literature on the subject and a must read by anyone who wishes not to be lost in the weeds of misinformation and tendentious analysis.
