This is considered to be the definitive edition of Firdausi's epic poem; its illustrations are scattered in collections and museums around the world. They are gathered together in this volum... read more
McCullin has travelled 5,000 miles in Turkey with the rambunctious and knowledgeable Rogerson as his cicerone. The result is this truly magnificent book of photographs, beautifully produced ... read more
Gorgeous colour images, as well as translations and commentary on these celebrated Persian poems. Both manuscripts date from the C15th and are exquisitely illustrated. This will be ravishing... read more
A sequence of essays about the Treaty that addressed the new Turkish state and the Middle East. At Versailles, before the rise of Ataturk, the West thought such matters had less claim on the... read more
Numerous contributors discuss different aspects of seafaring in the spread of Islamic culture, from its origins to the present. Well illustrated and fascinating.
APPEAR - Ancient Panel Paintings: Examination, Analysis, and Research - is an international collaboration between conservationists, scientists and curators around the world, set up in 2013. ... read more
The great historian of late antiquity mixes the personal with the scholarly in telling the story of his life and work. Engagement with the non-European world has been intrinsic to his work.
In a particularly elegant diplomatic gesture, the Caliph Harun al-Rashid sent an elephant to Aachen in 802 AD. This fresh perspective draws on many Arabic sources.
The long shadow of Ottoman rule: Mestyan argues that new local polities were based on recalibrated Ottoman structures rather than on European colonialism (with the exception of Palestine).
Looks at three groups of wandering herders in three very different regions - the Central Sahara, the Arabian Gulf and the Central Eurasian steppes. Many photographs.
How Mohammed-Reza Shah's close relationship with the US and his desire for autocratic rule sowed the seeds for the collapse of the Pahlavi dynasty and helped foment the Iranian revolution of... read more
In the C13th, the largest library in Europe contained fewer than 2000 books. Baghdad alone contained five libraries with between 200,000 and a million books.
An elucidating account of the conditions that led to, and subsequently shaped the Iraq war. This book casts a light on both CIA intrigue in the Middle East and Hussein's own political motiva... read more
The labours of Hercules are as nothing to those of archeo-botanists... tamarisk, red bryony, poplar etc and their role in traditional medicine - based on cuneiform inscriptions and intimate ... read more
A compelling account of the world's first empire, drawing extensively on recent discoveries in the field with the use of new archaeological techniques.
A fascinating, scholarly monograph rather than a picture book, but well illustrated; draws on pre-Islamic sources and the great
Persian poets. Explores the role and symbolism of gardens in... read more
The first translation by a woman, using Arabic and French sources, with detailed notes and commentary. Beautifully illustrated with Arab and Persian works of art as well as many drawn from p... read more
Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt was the French archaeologist who, in the 1960s, faced down both de Gaulle and Nasser to dismantle and move a dozen temples - including the vast Abu Simbel - t... read more