ASUNDAY TIMESANDTLSBOOK OF THE YEAR

“Masterly and brilliant”Simon Sebag Montefiore

“A book of vast scope and stunning insight.”Anthony Sattin,Spectator

Commanding erudition and a swashbuckling style define this history of the ArabsJustin Marozzi,Sunday Times

This kaleidoscopic book covers almost 3,000 years of Arab history and shines a light on the footloose Arab peoples and tribes who conquered lands and disseminated their language and culture over vast distances. Tracing this process to the origins of the Arabic language, rather than the advent of Islam, Tim Mackintosh-Smith begins his narrative more than a thousand years before Muhammad and focuses on how Arabic, both spoken and written, has functioned as a vital source of shared cultural identity over the millennia.

Mackintosh-Smith reveals how linguistic developmentsfrom pre-Islamic poetry to the growth of script, Muhammads use of writing, and the later problems of printing Arabichave helped and hindered the progress of Arab history, and investigates how, even in todays politically fractured postArab Spring environment, Arabic itself is still a source of unity and disunity.