History and Memory in the Abbasid Caliphate

Reviews / Votes

[This book] is a tightly argued investigation of a court operative ... Readers who have followed Osti's previous studies on the Abbasids, the court, and writerly practices will find the book a satisfying read for its integration and focused discussion of crucial topics ranging from (auto)biography to finding aids in books. * American Historical Review * [Letizia Osti] has offered a convincing and balanced rehabilitation of al-Suli's reputation as a chronicler. * Journal of Islamic Studies * [Letizia Osti] has written a book that is both useful and a pleasure to read. Senior scholars and graduate students alike will find much here to inform their own research and reflection. * Bulletin of SOAS * Those interested in medieval Islamic history and historiography, especially students of the turbulent-albeit rich-fourth/tenth century, in addition to anyone studying al-Suli and his work, will find this book insightful and thought provoking. * Journal of the American Oriental Society * "History and Memory in the Abbasid Caliphate is an innovative contribution compelling the field to think differently about our historical sources. In rehabilitating al-Suli, Osti provides an important guide for how to approach other texts, presenting a rich and rewarding model for interpretation to which readers will want to return again and again." * John P. Turner, Colby College, USA * "Do the formats of early Arabic prose allow us to identify a writer's viewpoint? What is the role of poetry in Arabic historiography? In this detailed but succinct and accessible discussion of how we categorise and evaluate Arabic sources, Letizia Osti makes convincing use of concepts of autobiography and emplotment to explore al-Suli's textual strategies, and reappraises him radically as a historian of his own times." * Julia Bray, The Abdulaziz Saud AlBabtain Laudian Professor of Arabic, University of Oxford, UK * In this careful study Letizia Osti takes seriously the praise and criticism that her subject, Abu Bakr al-?uli (d. 335/947), has received through the ages, and comes down definitively in his defence. She argues convincingly that he was a thoughtful commentator on his life in the caliphal court and his time in history. Osti goes far beyond a "life-and-times" piece, however. She models how to work with the grain of the written material to craft something that is useful for scholars today... Letizia Osti has written a book that is both useful and a pleasure to read. Senior scholars and graduate students alike will find much here to inform their own research and reflection. * Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies *