BYZANTIUM AND ISLAM

Helen C. Evans & Brandie Ratiff, eds., Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition 7th-9th Century New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2012) (From the book jacket: "This groundbreaking volume explores the epochal transformation and unexpected continuities in the Byzantine Empire form the seventh to the ninth century. As the period opened, the empire's southern provinces--the vibrant, diverse areas of North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean--were at the crossroads of trade routes reaching form Spain to China. These regions experienced historic upheavals when their Christian and Jewish communities encountered the emerging Islamic world, and by the ninth century an unprecedented cross-fertilization of cultures had taken place. . . . With its masterful exploration of two centuries that would shape the medieval world, Byzantium and Islam provides a revelatory interpretation of a period with profound ramifications for the modern era.").