Classical Islam: A History, 600 A.D. to 1258 A.D. »

The fall of Baghdad and the 'Abbasid caliphate to the Mongols in 1258, says historian and Islamic scholar Grunebaum (1909-1972), made clear to Muslims that for some centuries Islam had become a strong enough community that it no longer needed a unified caliphate to provide a political and religious center, and a new era of Islam dawned. In his account of Islam from its beginning until then, he chooses a smooth narrative over the identification of every bit of evidence. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR