Getting focused
If you find you need to get yourself focused, are working in a new area, or need to see topics and issues associated with particular areas, there are several good works which will help you get a good overview and gain some familiarity with the particular area.
Please note that a few of the of the Cambridge University Press titles are available electronically though Cambridge Core.
Arabic Literature in the Post-Classical Period by
The final volume of The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature explores the Arabic literary heritage of the little-known period from the twelfth to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Even though it was during this time that the famous Thousand and One Nights was composed, very little has been written on the literature of the period generally. In this volume Roger Allen and Donald Richards bring together some of the most distinguished scholars in the field to rectify the situation. The volume is divided into parts with the traditions of poetry and prose covered separately within both their 'elite' and 'popular' contexts. The last two sections are devoted to drama and the indigenous tradition of literary criticism. As the only work of its kind in English covering the post-classical period, this book promises to be a unique resource for students and scholars of Arabic literature for many years to come.
Call Number: PJ7558.A73 2006ISBN: 9780521771603Publication Date: 2006-04-13
Arabic Literature to the End of the Umayyad Period by
Originally published in 1983, The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature was the first general survey of the field to have been published in English for over fifty years and the first attempted in such detail in a multi-volume form. The volumes of the History provide an invaluable source of reference and understanding of the intellectual, literary and religious heritage of the Arabic-speaking and Islamic world. This volume begins its coverage with the oral verse of the sixth century AD, and ends with the fall of the Umayyad dynasty two centuries later. Within this period fall major events: the life of the Prophet Muhammad, the founding of the Islamic religion, the great Arab Islamic conquests of territories outside the Arabian Peninsula, and their meeting, as overlords, with the Byzantine and Sasanian world. Contributors to this volume discuss an array of topics including the influences of Greeks, Persians and Syrians on early Arabic literature.
Call Number: PJ7510.A8 1983ISBN: 0521240158Publication Date: 1983-11-03
The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy by
Philosophy written in Arabic and in the Islamic world represents one of the great traditions of Western philosophy. Inspired by Greek philosophical works and the indigenous ideas of Islamic theology, Arabic philosophers from the ninth century onwards put forward ideas of great philosophical and historical importance. This collection of essays, by some of the leading scholars in Arabic philosophy, provides an introduction to the field by way of chapters devoted to individual thinkers (such as al-Farabi, Avicenna and Averroes) or groups, especially during the 'classical' period from the ninth to the twelfth centuries. It also includes chapters on areas of philosophical inquiry across the tradition, such as ethics and metaphysics. Finally, it includes chapters on later Islamic thought, and on the connections between Arabic philosophy and Greek, Jewish, and Latin philosophy. The volume also includes a useful bibliography and a chronology of the most important Arabic thinkers.
Call Number: B741.C36 2005ISBN: 0521817439Publication Date: 2004-12-09
The Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology by
This series of critical reflections on the evolution and major themes of pre-modern Muslim theology begins with the revelation of the Koran, and extends to the beginnings of modernity in the eighteenth century. The significance of Islamic theology reflects the immense importance of Islam in the history of monotheism, to which it has brought a unique approach and style, and a range of solutions which are of abiding interest. Devoting especial attention to questions of rationality, scriptural fidelity, and the construction of 'orthodoxy', this volume introduces key Muslim theories of revelation, creation, ethics, scriptural interpretation, law, mysticism, and eschatology. Throughout the treatment is firmly set in the historical, social and political context in which Islam's distinctive understanding of God evolved. Despite its importance, Islamic theology has been neglected in recent scholarship, and this book provides a unique, scholarly but accessible introduction.
Call Number: BP166.1.C36 2008ISBN: 9780521780582Publication Date: 2008-05-22
The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an by
As the living scriptural heritage of more than a billion people, the Qur'an (Koran) speaks with a powerful voice. Just as other scriptural religions, Islam has produced a long tradition of interpretation for its holy book. Nevertheless, efforts to introduce the Qur'an and its intellectual heritage to English-speaking audiences have been hampered by the lack of available resources. The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an seeks to remedy that situation. In a discerning summation of the field, Jane McAuliffe brings together an international team of scholars to explain its complexities. Comprising fourteen chapters, each devoted to a topic of central importance, the book is rich in historical, linguistic and literary detail, while also reflecting the influence of other disciplines. For both the university student and the general reader, The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an provides a fascinating entrée to a text that has shaped the lives of millions for centuries.
Call Number: BP130.4.C36 2006ISBN: 0521831601Publication Date: 2006-11-23
The Cambridge History of Iran by
v. 1. The land of Iran.--v. 2. The Median and Achaemenian periods.--v. 3. The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian periods.--v. 4. The period from the Arab invasion to the Saljuqs.--v. 5. The Saljuqs and Mongol periods.--v. 6. The Timurid and Safarid periods.--v.7. From Nadir Shah to the Islamic Republic.
Call Number: DS272.C34ISBN: 0521060351Publication Date: 1968- The Cambridge history of Islam by
First published in 1970, The Cambridge History of Islam is the most comprehensive and ambitious collaborative survey of Islamic history and civilization yet to appear in English. On publication it was welcomed as a work useful for both reference and reading, for the general reader, student and specialist alike. It has now been reprinted, with corrections, and for ease of handling the original two hardcover volumes have each been divided into two separate paperbacks.
Call Number: DS35.6.C3ISBN: 052107567XPublication Date: 1971-01-02
The Cambridge History of Judaism by
The first three volumes of The Cambridge History of Judaism cover the history of the Jews from the Exile in 587 BCE to the early Roman period extending into the third century CE. A comprehensive examination is made of all the relevant literary and archeological sources, and special attention is given to the interaction of Iranian, Semitic, Hellenistic and Roman cultures. The contributors include both Jewish and Gentile scholars from many countries, and this History thus helps to deliver the study of Jewish history and Christian origins from geographical and religious limitations, and contributes to a deeper understanding and a broader tolerance. This first volume opens with three introductory chapters to the work as a whole dealing with the geographical background, the chronology and the numismatic history of Judaism. The remainder of this volume concentrates on the Persian period, the two and a half centuries following the Babylonian Exile.
Call Number: BM155.2.C35 1984ISBN: 0521218802Publication Date: 1984-02-16
Charity in Islamic Societies by
Muslim beliefs have inspired charitable giving for over fourteen centuries, yet Islamic history has rarely been examined from this perspective. In Charity in Islamic Societies, Amy Singer explains the basic concepts and institutions of Muslim charity, including the obligation to give on an annual basis. Charitable endowments shaped Muslim societies and cultures in every era. This book demonstrates how historical circumstances, social status, gender, age and other factors interacted with religious ideals to create a rich variety of charitable practices, from the beginnings of Islam to the present day. Using written texts, buildings, images and objects to anchor the discussions in each chapter, the author explores the motivations for charity, its impact on the rich and the poor, and the politicisation of charity. This lucidly written book will capture the attention of anyone who is interested in the nature of Islamic society and the role of philanthropy throughout history.
Call Number: BP170.25.S55 2008ISBN: 9780521821643Publication Date: 2008-09-18
Eastern Christianity by
This volume brings together in one compass the Orthodox Churches - the ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople and the Russian, Armenian, Ethiopian, Egyptian and Syrian Churches. It follows their fortunes from the late Middle Ages until modern times - exactly the period when their history has been most neglected. Inevitably, this emphasises differences in teachings and experience, but it also brings out common threads, most notably the resilience displayed in the face of alien and often hostile political regimes. The central theme is the survival against the odds of Orthodoxy in its many forms into the modern era. The last phase of Byzantium proves to have been surprisingly important in this survival. It provided Orthodoxy with the intellectual, artistic and spiritual reserves to meet later challenges. The continuing vitality of the Orthodox Churches is evident for example in the Sunday School Movement in Egypt and the Zoe brotherhood in Greece.
Call Number: BX290.E27 2006ISBN: 0521811139Publication Date: 2006-08-17
The Formation of Islam by
Jonathan Berkey's 2003 book surveys the religious history of the peoples of the Near East from roughly 600 to 1800 CE. The opening chapter examines the religious scene in the Near East in late antiquity, and the religious traditions which preceded Islam. Subsequent chapters investigate Islam's first century and the beginnings of its own traditions, the 'classical' period from the accession of the Abbasids to the rise of the Buyid amirs, and thereafter the emergence of new forms of Islam in the middle period. Throughout, close attention is paid to the experiences of Jews and Christians, as well as Muslims. The book stresses that Islam did not appear all at once, but emerged slowly, as part of a prolonged process whereby it was differentiated from other religious traditions and, indeed, that much that we take as characteristic of Islam is in fact the product of the medieval period.
Call Number: BP63.A35 B47 2003ISBN: 0521582148Publication Date: 2002-12-11
Islamic Historiography by
How did Muslims of the classical Islamic period understand their past? What value did they attach to history? How did they write history? How did historiography fare relative to other kinds of Arabic literature? These and other questions are answered in Chase F. Robinson's Islamic Historiography, an introduction to the principal genres, issues, and problems of Islamic historical writing in Arabic, that stresses the social and political functions of historical writing in the Islamic world. Beginning with the origins of the tradition in the eighth and ninth centuries and covering its development until the beginning of the sixteenth century, this is an authoritative and yet accessible guide through a complex and forbidding field, which is intended for readers with little or no background in Islamic history or Arabic.
Call Number: BP49.R53 2003ISBN: 0521620813Publication Date: 2002-12-11
The Literature of Al-Andalus by
The Literature of Al-Andalus is an exploration of the culture of Iberia, present-day Spain and Portugal, during the period when it was an Islamic, mostly Arabic-speaking territory, from the eighth to the thirteenth century, and in the centuries following the Christian conquest when Arabic continued to be widely used. The volume embraces many other related spheres of Arabic culture including philosophy, art, architecture and music. It also extends the subject to other literatures - especially Hebrew and Romance literatures - that burgeoned alongside Arabic and created the distinctive hybrid culture of medieval Iberia. Edited by an Arabist, an Hebraist and a Romance scholar, with individual chapters compiled by a team of the world's leading experts of Islamic Iberia, Sicily and related cultures, this is a truly interdisciplinary and comparative work which offers a interesting approach to the field.
Call Number: Ebook from Cambridge CoreISBN: 9781139177870Publication Date: 2012-05-28
Martyrdom in Islam by
In recent times Islamic martyrdom has become associated with suicide missions conducted by extremists. However, as David Cook demonstrates, this type of martyrdom is very different from the classical definition which condemned suicide and stipulated that anyone who died a believer could be considered a martyr. Ideas about martyrdom have evolved to suit prevailing circumstances, and it is the evolution of these interpretations that Cook charts in this fascinating history. The book covers the earliest sources on martyrdom including those from the Jewish and Christian traditions, discussions about what constituted martyrdom, and differences in attitudes between Sunnis and Shi'ites. A concluding section discusses martyrdom in today's radical environment. There is no other book which considers the topic so systematically, and which draws so widely on the literary sources. This will be essential reading for students of Islamic history, and for those looking for an informed account of this controversial topic.
Call Number: BP190.5.M3 C66 2007ISBN: 0521850401Publication Date: 2007-01-15
Modern Arabic Literature by
This volume of the Cambridge History of Arabic Literature provides an authoritative, comprehensive critical survey of creative writing in Arabic from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. With the spread of secular education, printing and journalism, a new reading public emerged. Against the background of the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, the rise of nationalism, and the conflict between Islam and increasing Westernization, the traditional conception of literature as a display of verbal skill was replaced by the view that literature should reflect and indeed change social and political reality. A significant translation movement resulted in the borrowing of Western ideas and literary forms: the novel, the short story and drama. This book examines the attempts made by Arab men and women to adapt the new imported forms as well as the indigenous literary tradition to meet the requirements of the modern world. Quoted material is given in English translation, and there is an extensive bibliography.
Call Number: PJ7538PJ7538.M38 1992ISBN: 0521331978Publication Date: 1993-01-14
The New Cambridge History of Islam by
The New Cambridge History of Islam is a comprehensive history of Islamic civilization, tracing its development from its beginnings in seventh-century Arabia to its wide and varied presence in the globalised world of today. The six volumes reflect the geographical distribution and the cultural, social and religious diversity of the peoples of the Muslim world. Four volumes cover historical developments and two are devoted to themes that cut across geographical and chronological divisions, ranging from social, political and economic relations to the arts, literature and learning. Each volume's introduction sets the scene for the ensuing chapters and examines relationships with adjacent civilizations. Written by a team combining established authorities and rising scholars in the field, this will be the standard reference for students, scholars and all those with enquiring minds for years to come.
v. 1. The formation of the Islamic world, sixth to eleventh centuries / edited by Chase Robinson -- v. 2. The western Islamic world, eleventh to eighteenth centuries / edited by Maribel Fierro -- v. 3. The eastern Islamic world, eleventh to eighteenth centuries / edited by David Morgan and Anthony Reid -- v. 4. Islamic cultures and societies to the end of the eighteenth century / edited by Robert Irwin with William Blair -- v. 5. The Islamic world in the age of Western dominance / edited by Francis Robinson -- v. 6. Muslims and modernity: culture and society since 1800 / edited by Robert Hefner.
Call Number: DS35.6 .C3 2010ISBN: 9780521515368Publication Date: 2010-11-04
The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies by
The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies responds to and celebrates the explosion of research in this interdisciplinary field over recent decades. A one-volume reference work, it provides an introduction to the academic study of early Christianity (c. 100-600 AD) and examines the vast geographical area impacted by the early church, in Western and Eastern late antiquity. It is thematically arranged to encompass history, literature, thought, practices, and material culture. It contains authoritative and up-to-date surveys of current thinking and research in the various subfields of early Christian studies, written by leading figures in the discipline. The essays orient readers to a given topic, as well as to the trajectory of research developments over the past 30-50 years within the scholarship itself. Guidance for future research is also given. Each essay points the reader towards relevant forms of extant evidence (texts, documents, or examples of material culture), as well as to the appropriate research tools available for the area. This volume will be useful to advanced undergraduate and post-graduate students, as well as to specialists in any area who wish to consult a brief review of the "state of the question" in a particular area of early Christian studies, especially one different from their own.
Call Number: BR121.3.O99 2008ISBN: 0199271569Publication Date: 2008-08-15
The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies by
The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies is part of a major new series of Oxford Handbooks. The volume on Jewish Studies reflects the aim of the series to produce distinctive and original surveys of today's interests and directions in the Humanities and Social Sciences.The Handbook covers all the main areas currently taught and researched as part of Jewish Studies in universities throughout the world, especially in Europe, the United States, and Israel. The span of the volume chronologically and geographically is thus enormous, but all contributors have in commontheir expertise in the study of the history, literature, religion, and culture of the Jews.Jewish Studies is a comparatively young discipline which has grown over the past fifty years in a somewhat undisciplined way. In a period of great upheaval for Jews following the Holocaust, the creation of the State of Israel, the emergence of new forms of dialogue between Jews and Christians,deepening divisions between secular and religious Jews, and unprecedented assimilation by diaspora Jews to the wider culture, the study of Jewish traditions and history has rarely been dispassionate. This is a good time to examine where we are and where the subject is going.There have been some attempts in recent years to encapsulate current conclusions about particular aspects of Jewish Studies, but these other works aim to provide compendia of agreed facts rather than a survey of interests and directions such as is found in the Oxford Handbook.The Handbook begins with an examination of Jewish Studies as an academic discipline in its own right. The first half of the volume is organized chronologically, followed by sections on languages and literature, general aspects of religion, and other branches of Jewish Studies which have eachaccumulated a considerable corpus of scholarship over the past half-century.This substantial volume of c. 400,000 words reflects the current state of scholarship as analysed by an international team of experts in the different and varied fields represented within contemporary Jewish Studies.
Call Number: REF BM70.O95 2002ISBN: 0198299966Publication Date: 2003-02-20
Religion, Learning and Science in the 'Abbasid Period by
The five centuries of the 'Abbasid period (eighth to thirteenth centuries AD) were the golden age of Arabic literature. They saw the appearance not only of poetry and belles-lettres (which are covered in a previous volume), but also of an extensive body of writings concerned with subjects ranging from theology and law to history and the natural sciences. This volume of The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature surveys the most important of these writings, including the literature of Sunnism and Shi'ism, Arabic philosophy, Sufism, Islamic law, grammar, lexicography, administration, historiography, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, geography, alchemy and medicine. It contains separate chapters on six of the greatest scholars of the Middle Ages, as well as on the Arabic literature of the Christians and Jews who lived under the rule of the 'Abbasid caliphate, and includes a study of one of the great cultural movements of the period, the translations from Greek into Arabic.
Call Number: DS36.85.R45 1990ISBN: 0521327636Publication Date: 1990-05-16
'Abbasid Belles-Lettres by
This volume of The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature covers artistic prose and poetry produced in the heartland and provinces of the 'Abbasid empire during the second great period of Arabic literature, from the mid-eighth to the thirteenth centuries AD. 'Abbasid literature was characterised by the emergence of many new genres and of a scholarly and sophisticated critical consciousness. This volume deals chronologically with the main genres and provides extended studies of major poets, prose-writers and literary theorists. It concludes with a comprehensive survey of the relatively unknown literature of the Yemen to appear in a European language since the manuscript discoveries of recent years. To make the material accessible to non-specialist readers, 'Abbasid authors are quoted in English translation wherever possible, and clear explanations of their literary techniques and conventions are provided. With chapters by leading specialists from the Middle East, Europe and America, the volume represents a wide cross-section of current academic opinion.
Call Number: PJ7530.A18 1990ISBN: 0521240166Publication Date: 1990-03-30
UC Library Search
InterLibrary Loan
Request an item directly from UC Library Search or a database (FASTEST service):
- Article Indexes & Research DatabasesLook for "Get it at UC" options
WorldCat Discovery @UCSB
WorldCat Discovery @UCSB is a way to find books and other materials located in libraries outside the UC System.
Finding Resources beyond UC and WorldCat
The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) is a respository of specialized and often unique materials in various formats, including many that are useful for the study of the Middle East. UCSB Library is a member of CRL and may borrow (through InterLibrary Loan) items for extended periods. CRL holds collections of newspapers from the Middle East as well as those from communities in North America, dissertations from a number of European and Israeli insitutions, official gazettes, among others. They have a searchable online catalog.
Center for Research Libraries (CRL)
There may be times when you need to search for materials and collections that may not be in WorldCat, especially in the field of Middle East Studies where many of the libraries needed and used by researchers are not included in WorldCat. The following sites will give you links to any institution's online catalog. However, please keep in mind that at this time there are many libraries in the Middle East which do not have online catalogs. You might also find these sites useful for links to library opacs which are in WorldCat, but in which you want to make a more in-depth search.
For a listing of Middle Eastern national libraries see Indepth Research Resources tab.
The Arabic Union Catalog is an online catalog of holdings from a number of Saudi libraries. See Indepth Research Resources: More Indexes & Databases.