This is a past event. Registration is closed. View other Royal Asiatic Society China in Shanghai events.


Join us for the next RAS Book Club session on the 13th of December, where we will discuss the book Islamic Empires: The Cities That Shaped Civilization: From Mecca to Dubai by Justin Marozzi.

About This Book (From Amazon.com)

Islamic civilization was once the envy of the world. From a succession of glittering, cosmopolitan capitals, Islamic empires lorded it over the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and swathes of the Indian subcontinent, while Europe cowered feebly at the margins. For centuries the caliphate was both ascendant on the battlefield and triumphant in the battle of ideas, its cities unrivaled powerhouses of artistic grandeur, commercial power, spiritual sanctity, and forward-looking thinking, in which nothing was off limits.

Islamic Empires is a history of this rich and diverse civilization told through its greatest cities over the fifteen centuries of Islam, from its earliest beginnings in Mecca in the seventh century to the astonishing rise of Doha in the twenty-first.


Marozzi brilliantly connects the defining moments in Islamic history: from the Prophet Mohammed receiving his divine revelations in Mecca and the First Crusade of 1099 to the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 and the phenomenal creation of the merchant republic of Beirut in the nineteenth century, and how this world is continuing to change today.


Where to Get This Book

There are Kindle and Audible versions of this book available on the Amazon.com website and some libraries.


Please note: This is a book discussion, not a talk. The author will not be present.