The life of Us?mah ibn-Munqidh epitomizes the height of Arab civilization during the early Crusading period. These memoirs -- which represent a rare first-hand account of medieval European manners, morals, politics, and medicine written by a non-European -- offers new perspective and insight into an important point of military and cultural contact between the East and West. In his introduction, translator Philip Hitti writes, "Ancient Arabic literature has preserved for us other biographies, memoirs, and reminiscences by great men, but there is hardly anything superior to this one in its simplicity of narrative, dignity, and wealth of contents and general human interest.

Volume 5 of the Princeton Oriental Texts. Originally published in 1939. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Volume 5 of the Princeton Oriental Texts. Originally published in 1939. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The Druze, who can be traced back to eleventh-century Levant, have long intrigued scholars of the Middle East. Their obscure origins and blending of beliefs from Ismaili Shi'ism, animism, Greek philosophy, Jewish and Christian mysticism, Iranian Gnosticism and even Buddhism, have set them apart from their neighbours. Philip K. Hitti reveals the remarkable Druze pantheon of semi-deities and investigates their dogmas and rituals, noting the stratification between the few Uqqal (elect wise ones) and the numerous Jahil (ignorant ones). The book includes rarely-seen extracts from the sacred writings of the Druze and offers a unique insight into this fascinating religious minority.

A brilliant history of the land into which more historical and cultural events were croweded than perhaps into any area of equal size. For Syria has either invented or transmitted to mankind such benefits as monotheistic religion, philosophy, law, trade, agriculture, and our allphabet.

This authoritative study of the Arabians and the Arabic-speaking peoples is a valuable source of information on Arab history. Suitable for both scholars and the general reader, it unrolls one of the richest and most instructive panoramas in history, telling with insight the story of the rise of Islam in the Middle Ages, its conquests, its empire, its time of greatness and of decay. For this revised tenth edition, Walid Khalidi's timely preface emphasises that now, more than ever, this magisterial work is of vital importance to the on-going attempts to bridge the Arab/Western cultural divide.

The life of UsA[mah ibn-Munqidh epitomizes the height of Arab civilization during the early Crusading period. These memoirs -- which represent a rare first-hand account of medieval European manners, morals, politics, and medicine written by a non-European -- offers new perspective and insight into an important point of military and cultural contact between the East and West. In his introduction, translator Philip Hitti writes, "Ancient Arabic literature has preserved for us other biographies, memoirs, and reminiscences by great men, but there is hardly anything superior to this one in its simplicity of narrative, dignity, and wealth of contents and general human interest.