The bard celebrates two other fine practitioners of the art, and laments a lost brewer
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The Abbasid Caliphate: A History
Illuminating account of the most influential force in the Muslim world from the eighth to the 13th centuries
GLOBAL FIRST: The Great Mosque of Samarra, completed in 851 by the Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil, was at the time the world’s largest
This right-wing conspiracy theory is used to justify the coercive measures against gender, race and labour rights that best serve capitalism, attests GAVIN O’TOOLE
KENNY MONROSE recommends a new exhibition that highlights the significance of Black British music
ANGUS REID is bowled over by an exuberant film about the making of Keith Jarrett’s legendary concert
MARIA DUARTE, FIONA O’CONNOR and ANDY HEDGECOCK review Savage House, Enzo, Madfabulous, and Erupcja
CHRIS SEARLE recommends a work of love and deep admiration for a great musician
WHY should anyone so much as glance at this academic, albeit fairly abbreviated, history of a religious-political entity which ceased to exist hundreds of years ago?
That’s a question addressed by Tayeb El-Hibri in this scholarly evaluation of the Abbasid dynasty and, in so doing, he constantly emphasises the valuable insights to be gleaned from such a study and the contemporary geopolitical relevance of the caliphate concept.
It is fair to say that a number of present-day Islamic and Islamist movements draw inspiration from the Abbasid caliphate as much as their reductionist view of the foundation society under the Prophet Mohammed.
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