Slaves on Horses : The Evolution of the Islamic Polity

Rating:
Summary: Roots of decline
Review: Islam's relying on Slave soldiers to protect and defend its empire was the root of its decline. The slave soldier neither has the interest or the caring to defend his homeland, rather like a mercenary he fights for his life and runs away at the earliest possible moment when all seems lost. This book develops the scholarship on Islam's early use of slave soldiers, making the arguemtn that the weakness and distrust of the early Islamic rulers led them to adopt slaves, who had no kin, no tribe, and therefore would be apolitical. The fact that all four of the first Caliphs were assasinated certainly helped this idea on its way. The second major factor in choosing slaves is that the Bedouin soldiers and raiders who propelled Islam out of Arabia were not reliable soldiers and could not wage set piece battles, all though this military fact is overlooked this is a good study and goes half way to explaining the failure of Islamic Jihadist armies at Lepanto and Poiters.

Seth J. Frantzman

Rating:
Summary: The standard text on the emergence of Islam as an empire
Review: It is a pity this book is out of print, because no other work so clearly describes the challenges facing the early Caliphs (Khalifa) as they were compelled to turn their divinely inspired kingdom into a very earthly empire with something approaching a regular army. The early Islamic conquests were made by the entire mass of (male) believers, organized on tribal lines, responding to the call of the Khalifa...but such a force was unreliable and as likely to kill the Caliph as defend him.. Crone analyzes the alternatives pursued as the Caliphs moved from being successors to the Prophet to Kings in their own right. Brilliantly done-

Rating:
Summary: The standard text on the emergence of Islam as an empire
Review: It is a pity this book is out of print, because no other work so clearly describes the challenges facing the early Caliphs (Khalifa) as they were compelled to turn their divinely inspired kingdom into a very earthly empire with something approaching a regular army. The early Islamic conquests were made by the entire mass of (male) believers, organized on tribal lines, responding to the call of the Khalifa...but such a force was unreliable and as likely to kill the Caliph as defend him.. Crone analyzes the alternatives pursued as the Caliphs moved from being successors to the Prophet to Kings in their own right. Brilliantly done-