The Fatimid Empire

From the 10th century to the end of the 12th century, the Fatimid Empire played a central, yet controversial, role in the history of Islam. This definitive account combines the histories of Isma'ilism, North Africa and Egypt with that of the dynasty. By relating it to the wider history of Islam, the Crusades and its theocratic counterparts in Byzantium and Western Europe, Brett shows the full historical significance of the empire. Topics covered include: the work of Ibn Khaldūn; the relationship of tribal to civilian economy and society; the formation and evolution of the dynastic state; the relationship of the dynastic state to economy and society and questions of cultural change, specifically in relation to Arabisation and Islamisatio.

Author: Michael Brett
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Published: 02/21/2017
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.50lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.30w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780748640775

About the Author

Michael Brett is Emeritus Reader in the History of North Africa at SOAS. His publications include The Moors: Islam in the West, 1980; (with L. Fentress) The Berbers (1996, with E. Fentress); Ibn Khaldun and the Medieval Maghrib, 1999; The Rise of the Fatimids, 2001; and Approaching African History, 2013, with contributions to the Cambridge History of Africa, the New Cambridge Medieval History, and The New Cambridge History of Islam.