Description: A panoramic vision of Islamic cultures and societies from the origins of Islam to 1800.
Brief description: Robert Irwin is senior research associate of the History Department, School of Oriental and African Studies, London University. His previous publications include For Lust of Knowing: The Orientalists and Their Enemies (2006), Night and Horses and the Desert: An Anthology of Classical Arabic Literature (1999) and The Arabian Nights: A Companion (1994).