Tarikh al-Mujtamiat al-Islamiyah (2 vol)تاريخ المجتمعات الإسلامية

In a 2 volume set, translated to Arabic, the 2008 edition of 'A History of Islamic Societies', one of the most widely used course books on Islamic civilizations around the world, updated to incorporate new insights. Ira Lapidus’ history explores the beginnings and transformations of Islamic civilizations in the Middle East and details Islam’s worldwide diffusion.

Ira Lapidus' work has been fully revised in its coverage of each country and region of the Muslim world. It incorporates the origins and evolution of Islamic societies and brings into focus the historical processes that gave shape to the manifold varieties of contemporary Islam. The concluding chapters survey the growing influence of the Islamist movements within national states and in their transnational or global dimensions, including the Islamic revival, Islamist politics and terrorism. An updated discussion of the roles of women in Islamic societies is added, with new sections about Afghanistan and Muslims in Europe, America, and the Philippines.

Ira M. Lapidus is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of California at Berkeley. His many books and articles include Islam, Politics and Social Movements (University of California Press, 1988) and Muslim Cities in the Later Middle Ages (Cambridge, 1984).

No other history of Islam of this magnitude and breadth exists

The second edition updates the story, exploring the revival of fundamental Islam and Islamic political identity in the twentieth century

An accessible and fluent read for students setting out on their studies, and for general readers wishing to understand the nuances and complexities of Islam and its civilization.