A Short History of the Arab Peoples

by John Bagot Glubb

An abridged history gleaned from years of military service as Commander of the Arab legion.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Islam, Middle East, Historical

318 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Lieutenant-General Sir John Bagot Glubb, KCB, CMG, DSO, OBE, MC (a.k.a. "Glubb Pasha") was a British Army officer who was for many years seconded to the Arab Legion of the Trans-Jordan (later The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan), which he ultimately commanded until dismissed by King Hussein in March 1956. He wrote many books after his retirement, primarily on the history of the Middle East and on Military History.

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve said it before but will say it again; sometimes history is just so damn interesting. This is an excellent book for anyone to get grounded on the Arab peoples from 600 AD to the 1950’s, although I thought the Ottoman era did not receive sufficient attention. One of Glubb’s main themes is that the West is not taught about the 5 centuries from 600 AD to 1100 AD, with Europe cut off from the world. The Arabs owned the Mediterranean and the land from the Mahgreb to Afghanistan, a barrier to the trade and intermixing that was a part of the Greek, Roman and Byzantine eras (more on this later). We in the West like to think our heritage and history was passed down directly from the Greeks and Romans but it was the Arab civilizations that formed the bridge between medieval Europe and the earlier periods. The Arab peoples added to the Greco-Roman knowledge base while passing it on. Glubb attributes the failure to teach this history to fear of the Arabs even into the Renaissance and a desire to play down any contribution from outside the Western Canon. I think he is mostly right. I don’t remember any significant history from the age of Constantine until the Crusades. “Algebra” and “Arabic numerals” are just about the only contributions generally acknowledged.

A Short History of the Arab Peoples gets 4 Stars and a permanent place on the history shelf. This book is a series of small chapters, each covering a time period and a geographical area. An outstanding part of each chapter is a map pertinent to the topic, showing key movements, boundaries and battles; along with a genealogy of rulers and the names of key players. For example, the map of the Middle East as the Abbasid dynasty begins to disintegrate and the Byzantine Empire regains military prowess:



Glubb begins with a brief description of the world before Muhammad. Glubb’s obvious admiration for the Arabs does not generally interfere with his narrative. For example, his description of Muhammad, does not only paint the "Apostle of God" as a holy person. After Muhammed’s first 12 years in Mecca, Glubb describes a man who becomes a power politician, wages war, arranges assassinations, condones slavery and founds a religious political system that endorses war. Glubb is fond of the Arab attributes in the first 200 years, as the Islamic conquest moves out from the Arabian Peninsula. Especially notable is the code of honor and chivalry, along with a sense of romance and the desire for individual freedom. This made them ferocious warriors but also made them hard to rule or to cooperate for long. Many revolts and uprisings occur. Here is one episode where an upstart occupied Mecca:

The siege of Mecca lasted for eight months. The Umaiyid commander, Hajjáj ibn Yusuf had placed mangonels on the mountains which, on all sides, overhung the little desert town and a continual bombardment of rocks was maintained. On 3rd October, 692, when further resistance was impossible, Abdulla ibn Zubair, sword in hand, sallied out alone against the Damascus army. A missile struck him in the face and blood poured down his beard and clothes. He paused for a moment, to recite in stentorian tones—he was famous for the power of his voice—these lines from a classical Arab poet:

“No craven wounds our backs shall stain with shame,
But down our breasts our glorious blood shall flow.”

Then, moving forward again alone, he fell riddled with arrows.

Such were the ancient Arabs. War and poetry were their joy. Even in their endless and blood-soaked feuds, they maintained noble spirit of courage, dignity and drama.

A continuing theme of Glubb is that the spirit of freedom and the tribal codes of honor and chivalry were passed from the Arabic conquerors of Andalus, Sicily and lower Italy to France and Germany, to then be reflected in Western traditions. A great example is this, when Richard Coeur de Lion comes to the aid of Jaffa, under assault by Salah al Din:

The coastal plain had been reconquered from Tyre to Asqalon but the Muslims still held Beirut, which divided the southern Crusader territory from Tripoli and Antioch in the north. Richard decided to join up the Crusader states by taking Beirut before he sailed for England. No sooner had he marched away to the north than Saladin, on 27th July, 1192, threw himself on Jaffa with his whole army. Richard had reached Acre when he heard of the attack on Jaffa. Hastily embarking in some galleys with a few men, he arrived off Jaffa on 1st August to find that the town had been captured by the Muslims who were attacking the citadel.

Richard jumped overboard, waded up the beach and drove the surprised Muslims from the town. Then emerging from the gates, he captured Saladin’s camp and obliged him to take to flight. On 5th August, the Muslims returned to the attack. Richard had only a few hundred men, drawn up in a solid formation which the Turkmans were unable to break. When their attacks petered out, Richard rode out single-handed and defied the whole Muslim army, but no man dared to take up the challenge. When the battle was over, Saladin sent the king a present of fresh fruit and cold drinks, chilled with snow brought from Mount Hermon.

While the West and the current Arab peoples like to focus on the Crusades as a terrible time, the real blow to Arab civilization came from the east, the scourge of the Mongols. Everyone, regardless of background, can weep for slaughter of the people and the destruction of centuries of learning and culture when the Mongols took Baghdad:

On 18th January, 1258, Hulagu’s army arrived outside Baghdad, where it was joined by the Mongol garrison of Asia Minor. Using large gangs of slave prisoners, the Mongols quickly surrounded the city with a continuous breastworks and ditch. On 30th January, 1258, Hulagu opened a massive bombardment with his mangonels. Within three days, the defences were in ruins. On 5th February, the Mongols mounted a long stretch of the walls.

Hulagu, thereupon, ordered the khalif’s army to assemble on the plain outside the walls, where all were massacred. On 10th February, the Khalif Mustasim gave himself up. Hulagu ordered him to instruct the whole civil population to gather on the plain outside the walls, where they also were shot, slashed and hacked to death in heaps, regardless of age or sex.

Not until 13th February did the Mongols enter the city. For a week, they had been waiting on the walls, not a man daring to leave his unit to plunder. Such iron discipline, unknown in the Middle Ages, goes far to account for their invincibility. The city was then systematically looted, destroyed and burnt. Eight hundred thousand persons are said to have been killed. The Khalif Mustasim was sewn in a sack and trampled to death under the feet of Mongol horses.

For five hundred years, Baghdad had been a city of palaces, mosques, libraries and colleges. Its universities and hospitals were the most up-to-date in the world. Nothing now remained but heaps of rubble and a stench of decaying human flesh.

The Muslim world was thunderstruck at the news of the destruction of Baghdad and the murder of the khalif. Hulagu, laden with incredible quantities of treasure, the wealth accumulated by the Abbasids over five centuries, marched away to Adharbaijan to rest and graze his horses.

As I said, history is so fascinating. Read the following passage without clicking on the spoilers. When did this happen or is this an accurate description of someplace currently? Then go back and see what and when this passage describes:

When the empire ____ commenced to break up and economic decline set in, the people did not work harder to atone for the loss of trade--on the contrary, in Baghdad ______ they introduced a five-day week. A welfare state was inaugurated similar to our own, with free medical treatment, free hospitals, free university education and government grants to students. It would appear as if at the beginning of its period of power, “the ascendant” an imperial race scatters all over the world, full of initiative and the love of adventure. In its later life, however, a reaction sets in and the pendulum swings to the opposite extreme.

At this stage, the people become purely inward-looking. All interest in the empire is lost and the nation’s attention is focused only on its own domestic affairs. As there are still reserves of wealth which have survived from the great days, lavish expenditure is incurred on social services, on education and on humanitarian projects. But with the decline in the national status, the accumulated wealth of the past is soon dissipated. At first, an attempt is made to maintain social expenditure by increasing taxes and devaluing the currency. But these subterfuges only increase the disease, the welfare state has to be abandoned and an increasingly low standard of living must be accepted. Far from being a wonderful modern concept, the welfare state may well be a regular and recurrent feature of great nations in decline.

This describes: Baghdad at the end of the great Arabic empire of Umaiyads and Abbasids in the mid-800’s!

Coming back to Glubb’s themes, he posits that we need to understand this history to understand ourselves. The closing off of Europe in the Dark Ages led to land as a measure of wealth since money (and gold, silver, etc) was so scarce. Without cash, traders and bankers have little sway and the landed gentry hold the highest levels in society. It got me thinking, does our reverence for property rights come from there?

Excellent book, now I have to go back and read books to give more detail on each period.

[Charlie Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for brushing up on what was happening during Europe's Dark Ages - as it happens; Constant threats of Arab/Muslim Jihads, and piracy, suffocating Europe for over five centuries.

Sir John Glubb being extremely appreciative of the Arab Peoples, proves perfectly able to recount a well-detailed examination of their cultures and histories.

A fault perhaps, would be, as Sir Glubb was chiefly concerned with military matters, in his own life, most of A Short History's writing focuses solely on political/military events. Lip service is paid to cultural/scientific achievements here or there, but mostly, Sir Glubb is concerned with great battles, conquests, and the shifting of nations.

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive, well researched, and sometimes dry account of how Islam began and spread across the Middle East into North Africa, Europe, and Asia. Clearly, an Imperialist perspective (including stereotyping different groups of Arabs) colors the piece. However, "Glubb Pasha", who commanded the Arab Legion for 17 years and spent 36 years in the Middle East, was highly knowledgeable and appreciative of the region's history and culture.

[Thomas Funke · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are going to read up on Middle Eastern / Arab history, start here.

This book is a timeline of events, with maps, dates, personalities, & military activities from the time of Muhammad to WWII.

I will now use this book as a reference to future books I read about Arab /Middle East history.

This is primarily a military history. There is little in the book about ME / Arab literature, arts, music, agriculture, or culture in general.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short and accordingly very condensed factual overview. The 'full' history by Glubb is not one but four volumes. Despite the condensation the reader is provided with a useful overview and poitn of departure for more specific studies - all of it facilitated by the solid and accessible writing style.

Highly recommended.

[Jay Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not an easy read. The names are confusing and they throw a lot at you. It is not well footnoted, but throwing that aside it is a short history of Arabs and the Islam religion in only a few pages. I learned a great deal in those few pages. Finally, I recommend this to shed new light on an old problem, Palestine.