This is a recent volume in the Nouvelle Clio series, a long-standing French academic imprint, designed to introduce readers – researchers and advanced students (e.g. those preparing for the concours) – to broad historic regions, eras and topics. The volumes seek to reflect up-to-date scholarship, introduce current debates in the respective field – so, here, for example, the arguments over the origins of Islam – and provide full, secondary bibliographies. No precisely equivalent works published in English come to mind, although one is reminded of a now quite dated series produced by E.J. Brill (The Muslim World, 1960, 1969, 1981) and, in some senses, R. Stephen Humphreys’ still handy Islamic History: A Framework for Inquiry (Princeton, 1991). This work joins the three-volume set (Etats, sociétés et cultures du monde musulman médiéval, Xe–XVe siècle, eds. J.-C. Garcin et al., 1995, 2000) that deals with the later medieval and pre-modern periods.

The volume, thus, provides a wide-ranging, concisely-written and informative set of essays on its subject, in this case, the first 400 years of Islamic history, thought and society, and does so exceedingly well. The editors, all of whom contribute multiple essays of their own, are joined by a roster of top-ranked scholars in their respective areas. There is a great deal to learn here (even, I warrant, for established scholars); one is reminded, in any case, of how far the field of Islamicate history has progressed in recent decades, with respectable reading lists in many (though certainly not all) sub-fields of Arabic and Islamic studies. It is something of a chore to read the entire work – many no doubt will be content with individual chapters – but well worth the effort. This reviewer was especially gratified to have discussion on the late antique period, with individual chapters on the principal confessional communities of the pre-Islamic Near East; a chapter devoted to the spread of Arabic; yet another on the early Islamic Maghreb; and a set of four considerable chapters devoted to urbanization, fiscal matters and travel.

I would signal three concerns. First, because the chapters are written solely in French, a language that too few non-native students, at least in the United States, learn to read easily if at all, the book will not reach as full an audience as it should. The book, or given parts, depending on their use, should work effectively as a classroom text, in any case, and should be adopted for that purpose. Second, I wondered at the placement of two chapters – one on the initial Arab-Islamic conquests, placed as it is following the chapter on the Umayyad caliphate, the second on the contemporary debate over the origins and first developments of the Islamic tradition, which appears towards the middle of the book, when one would think it might come very early on. A small matter unless hurried readers miss finding the chapters where they might expect to find them. Finally, there is the question of shelf-life: decent scholarship, of the sort on display here, reproduces gradually so there is perhaps little fear that the volume will soon grow dated. The editors, to their credit, indicate the intention to construct an online site containing much supplementary material; I was unable to locate such a site, however, and it may be that it remains under construction.