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  • Arabs

  • A 3,000-Year History of Peoples, Tribes, and Empires
  • Written by: Tim Mackintosh-Smith
  • Narrated by: Ralph Lister
  • Length: 25 hrs and 34 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (8 ratings)

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Arabs

Written by: Tim Mackintosh-Smith
Narrated by: Ralph Lister
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Publisher's Summary

A riveting, comprehensive history of the Arab peoples and tribes that explores the role of language as a cultural touchstone 

This kaleidoscopic book covers almost 3,000 years of Arab history and shines a light on the footloose Arab peoples and tribes who conquered lands and disseminated their language and culture over vast distances. Tracing this process to the origins of the Arabic language, rather than the advent of Islam, Tim Mackintosh-Smith begins his narrative more than a thousand years before Muhammad and focuses on how Arabic, both spoken and written, has functioned as a vital source of shared cultural identity over the millennia. 

Mackintosh-Smith reveals how linguistic developments - from pre-Islamic poetry to the growth of script, Muhammad's use of writing, and the later problems of printing Arabic - have helped and hindered the progress of Arab history, and investigates how, even in today's politically fractured post-Arab Spring environment, Arabic itself is still a source of unity and disunity.

©2019 Tim Mackintosh-Smith (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

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An excellent book and admirable attempt

I was enthralled and educated. As an Arab, it was a most interesting deep dive into the history. Though the author is not Arab, I would most certainly grant him the status of an Arabian. As an Omani, I do wish there was more pertaining to Oman, but the attempt was certainly admirable, and for an all encompassing history of the Arabs you would need an entire library, not only the space between a front and back cover.

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Biased and certainly not the whole picture

Knowing that, it could be worth reading for someone looking for the western view of Arabian history.

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