Islamic world (Cambridge illustrated history)

Written with insight and expertise, and lavishly illustrated, this is a cultural history of the Islamic world from Muhammad to the present day. What is Islam? Why is it so influencial both historically and today? Why has mutual suspicion characterized relations between the Islamci world and the west? What are the roots of today´s religious and political fundamentalism? De-mystifiying the Islamci world and celebrating its achievements, this book covers everything form its commerce, social ordering, knowledge and learning to its art, architecture, and material culture. Emphasis is placed throughout on the close interrelationship between the west and the Islamic world, and the large cultural debt they owe one another.