An examination of the rise of Islam, the life of Muhammad, and the Islamic principles of faith. Jonathan Bloom and Sheila Blair describe the golden age of the Abbasids, the Mongol invasions, and the great Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires that emerged in their wake.

The twelfth-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes is a major figure in European literature. His courtly romances fathered the Arthurian tradition and influenced countless other poets in England as well as on the continent. Yet because of the difficulty of capturing his swift-moving style in translation, English-speaking audiences are largely unfamiliar with the pleasures of reading his poems.

Now, for the first time, an experienced translator of medieval verse who is himself a poet provides...

A comprehensive new survey tracing the global history of urbanism and urban design from the industrial revolution to the present “An engaging read for urban planners and non-designer urbanists.

The extent and detail of Mumford’s geographical coverage of the topics are exceptional.”—Christopher Auffrey, Journal of Urban Affairs Written with an international perspective that encourages cross-cultural comparisons, leading architectural and urban historian Eric Mumford presents a compr...

“One of the most profound and illuminating studies of this century to have been published in recent decades.”—John Gray, New York Times Book Review “A powerful, and in many [ways] insightful, explanation as to why grandiose programs of social reform, not to mention revolution, so often end in tragedy. . . .

An important critique of visionary state planning.”—Robert Heilbroner, Lingua Franca Hailed as “a magisterial critique of top-down social planning” by the New York Times...

The fascinating story of the evolution of the country house in Britain, from its Roman precursors to the present

A fascinating journey through Europe’s old towns, exploring why we treasure them—but also what they hide about a continent’s fraught history