Ep 181: Michael Cook on the Islamic Conquests

Michael Cook, Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University and author of A History of the Muslim World: From Its Origins to the Dawn of Modernity, joins the show to discuss the sudden, explosive Arab expansion of the 7th century. 

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Times 

    •     01:46 Introduction

    •     03:05 Sources

    •     04:42 War and politics   

    •     07:32 Grass and sand  

    •     09:30 Self-defense    

    •     12:21 Ibn Khaldun 

    •     16:11 An Arab identity  

    •     18:45 Knock on effects   

    •     26:40 Two targets 

    •     28:32 The Arab way of war  

    •     34:50 Coming out of the desert   

    •     38:48 Civil war 

    •     42:27 Jihad

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Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack