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Books 2012: the introduction to history
Apr. 17th, 2012 05:02 pmBooks 2012: 60
nonfiction
60. Ibn Khaldun, The Muquaddimah: An Introduction to History. Bollingen Series, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2005. Translated and introduced by Franz Rosenthal, with a new introduction by Bruce B. Lawrence. Abridged and edited by N.J. Dawood.
Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406 CE) is one of those medieval Arab scholars who makes almost everyone else look like an underachiever. The Muqaddimah, or "Introduction," encompasses philosophy, history, sociology, economics, and more than a few other things.
I've been reading it for several months. This abridgement is still 460 pages long, and the prose of the translation is leaden. The actual matter is quite interesting - it's fascinating to see how little conservative views of economics and society have changed in six or so centuries, in some ways. But I certainly wouldn't recommend it for light, fun reading.
I do not thinking arising before 0900 really agrees with me. But such is life.
nonfiction
60. Ibn Khaldun, The Muquaddimah: An Introduction to History. Bollingen Series, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2005. Translated and introduced by Franz Rosenthal, with a new introduction by Bruce B. Lawrence. Abridged and edited by N.J. Dawood.
Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406 CE) is one of those medieval Arab scholars who makes almost everyone else look like an underachiever. The Muqaddimah, or "Introduction," encompasses philosophy, history, sociology, economics, and more than a few other things.
I've been reading it for several months. This abridgement is still 460 pages long, and the prose of the translation is leaden. The actual matter is quite interesting - it's fascinating to see how little conservative views of economics and society have changed in six or so centuries, in some ways. But I certainly wouldn't recommend it for light, fun reading.
I do not thinking arising before 0900 really agrees with me. But such is life.
