Previous ed.: 1986.

The matrix of the Muslim world : the Near East in the early seventh century -- The birth of the Islamic state -- Conquest and division in the time of the Rāshidūn Caliphs -- The Umayyad Caliphate -- The early ʻAbbasid Caliphate -- The middle ʻAbbasid Caliphate -- The structure of politics in the Muslim Commonwealth -- The Buyid Confederation -- The Kurds -- The Hamdanids -- Bedouin political movements and dynasties -- Early Islamic Egypt and the Fatimid Empire.