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Here a two versions of the book that will do much of what Keith asks for.
Philip Hitti was born in the village of Shemlan Lebanon where I lived a year. He
was an amazing man. When he was 84, he asked me at breakfast at his son's house
to walk with him among the orchards the next morning, saying he left around 5
AM. Being a stupid kid of 22 [we don't get smarter, we just get older], a told
him I'd see him at breakfast because that was just too early.
Bill Ward
 There is a second, much more detailed book, as well.
History of the Arabs: From the Earliest Times to the
Present -- by Philip Khuri Hitti
On Wed, 11 Sep 2002 08:09:33 +0100 Keith Hudson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> Brian, > > Thank you for posting the review of Roger Scruton's book, "The West > and the > Rest" (see posting of 14:54 10/09/02 -0400). He has much that is > useful to > dwell on. > > However, in contrasting Islam with the globalisation of western > trade and > culture, it would seem that Roger Scruton has not alighted on one of > the > supreme ironies of history. This is that, without Islam, it is > doubtful > whether the Renaissance, the Enlightenment or the Industrial > Revolution > would have ever started in the west -- or at least they would have > been > substantially delayed, perhaps for centuries. > > In its heyday, Islam rescued many of the great philosophical and > scientific > works of the early Greeks by translating them into Arabic -- in > which form > they were then introduced into Medieval Europe by the Moorish > conquest. If > this were not momentous enough, Islamic mathematicians also > introduced the > innovative concept of the digit "0" -- and the consequence of > negative > numbers -- without which both double-entry book-keeping (and thus > Italian > merchant banking) and modern scientific mathematics would never have > got > off the ground. > > In truth, the west owes great debts to Islam. More speculatively, > America > could easily have been an Islamic country by now if the Moors had > not so > willingly retreated from Spain in the 14th century, just at the time > when > merchants and discoverers were setting out to explore the world > across the > seas. At that time, the scope of the trading empire of the Muslim > civilisation from the Mediterranean to the Far East greatly exceeded > that > of the puny merchants of the western seaboard of Europe. It was only > an > accident of history that Christopher Columbus and his successors > were > financed by Christendom and not the Moors. > > The book has yet to be written which attempts to describe those > well-nigh > invisible influences which allowed Islam to yield its great > conceptual and > commercial achievements to Western Europe. I'm sure that when such a > book > is written we might also begin to understand much more clearly the > present > legacy of resentment and hatred of Islam for western values. > > Keith Hudson > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > -------------- > > Keith Hudson,6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England > Tel:01225 312622/444881; Fax:01225 447727; E-mail: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ________________________________________________________________________ > > |
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