Worlds of Islam
A Global History
Will be published approx. on 19. January 2027
Book
Paperback/Softback
608 pages
978-0-14-199808-4 (ISBN)
Description
From its birth in seventh-century Arabia, Islam has been a faith on the move. In Worlds of Islam, James McDougall explores its origins and transformations from Late Antiquity to the digital age. As empires fell and new superpowers rose, Muslims - now spread out across the world - proved to be as adaptable and dynamic as modernity itself.
Building on a wealth of textual and cultural sources in Arabic and other languages and rich with individual biographies, the book aims to bridge the gap between the rich and detailed specialist scholarship and the noise of contemporary public debate, news and commentary. Sweeping, authoritative and humane, Worlds of Islam explores the many ways Islam has made world history - and how Muslims, and the worlds they live in, have re-made Islam.
Building on a wealth of textual and cultural sources in Arabic and other languages and rich with individual biographies, the book aims to bridge the gap between the rich and detailed specialist scholarship and the noise of contemporary public debate, news and commentary. Sweeping, authoritative and humane, Worlds of Islam explores the many ways Islam has made world history - and how Muslims, and the worlds they live in, have re-made Islam.
Reviews / Votes
Brilliant, indispensable ... a rare book of balanced scholarship -- Simon Sebag Montefiore Masterful ... eclectic and unpredictable, guaranteed to open the eyes and minds of the general reader no less than scholars of the world's second-largest faith. McDougall quietly demolishes the post-9/11 consensus that concepts such as jihad were totems of Islam's otherness [and] convincingly shows [that] the history of Islam requires the upending of many of the things we think we know about the world * New Statesman * stunningly ambitious and authoritative ... paints a compelling picture of change, adaptation, and growth in Islam from its origins over a thousand years ago to its myriad expressions in today's digital age. McDougall ... wears his erudition lightly, deftly linking debates across time and space [into] a profoundly nuanced picture of Islam, its faithful, and their communities -- Foreign Affairs A truly global work of history ... Rather than denial or avoidance, [McDougall] reaches for the historian's tools of contextualization and comparison ... his approach is constantly analytical, questioning what facts signify * Times Literary Supplement * An elegant, erudite guide ... It is impossible to sum up the skilful manner in which the author navigates his way around 1,500 years of history across such a wide geographical expanse - the historical vignettes are extremely diverse, giving greater evidence from parts of the Islamic world the West talks less about than the Middle East * Arab Weekly *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
500 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-14-199808-4 (9780141998084)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
01/2026
Penguin Books Ltd
€14.99
Available for download
Person
James McDougall has taught history at Princeton; the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; and Oxford, where he has been a Fellow of Trinity College since 2009, and where from 2018 to 2025 he was Professor of Modern and Contemporary History. The author of two previous books, his writing has appeared in The Guardian, Foreign Affairs, and The New Statesman.