Arab history

The empire that sprang from nowhere under the banner of Islam

29 May 2021 9:00 am

When the British formed the basis of their empire in the 1600s by acquiring territories in India and North America,…

The final fanfare for the caliphs before the coming of the Mongol hordes. A manuscript miniature from al-Hariri’s Maqamat, showing the caliph’s mounted standard bearers

The Arabs before Islam: a rich, exotic history

30 March 2019 9:00 am

In his first book, published in 1977, Tim Mackintosh-Smith described mentioning the idea of travelling to Yemen while studying Arabic…