In the shadow of the sword
Subtitle: the birth of Islam and the rise of the global Arab empire
By: Tom Holland
Edition: 1st Anchor books ed.
Publisher: Anchor Books; Anchor
Published: 2013
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 526
ISBN-13: 9780307473653
Subjects: History; Islam
Other titles: Birth of Islam and the rise of the global Arab empire
Description: In the 6th century AD, the Near East was divided between two venerable empires: the Persian and the Roman. A hundred years on, and one had vanished forever, while the other seemed almost finished. Ruling in their place were the Arabs: an upheaval so profound that it spelled, in effect, the end of the ancient world. In The Shadow of the Sword, Tom Holland explores how this came about. Spanning Constantinople to the Arabian desert, and starring some of the most remarkable rulers who ever lived, he tells a story vivid with drama, horror and startling achievement.
Notes: Originally published: London : Little, Brown, 2012.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 481-507) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction. Known unknowns; title: Jahiliyya. Iranshahr ; New Rome ; The children of Abraham ; Countdown to apocalypse; title: Hijra. More questions than answers ; The forging of Islam; title: Envoi : plus c̜a change?; title: Timeline; title: Dramatis personae.