The Lost Centuries

In this book, author John Bagot Glubb continues his comprehensive narrative of Arabic history, following The Great Arab Conquests, The Empire of the Arabs, and The Course of Empire. He concentrates on the tumultuous events that brought about the gradual decline of this great civilisation. From the beginning of the seventh century, the conquering Arab tribes had drastically extended their domain and sphere of religious influence, bringing fear — and the so-called ‘Dark Ages’ — to Europe. By the twelfth century, the European nations were taking the fight back to the Holy Lands in their own war of religion: the Crusades.

Whilst much has been written about the Crusades, John Bagot Glubb identified a gap in European-language histories, which have often failed to document the story of the Muslim world during this great period of religious warfare. To address this, he makes extensive use of the work of classical French and Arab historians, both European and Arab scholars, and his own reading and translations of European and Arabic texts. His personal experience living and working among the Arab people for many decades as a British military leader and Commander of the Arab Legion enables him to interpret and convey the often complex history in an engaging and personal manner. Here, he thoroughly sets the record straight on the debt that European civilisation owes to the culture and history of the Arab world — before its near-total destruction.

The Lost Centuries begins with the Crusades as a new phase in the centuries-old conflict between Christendom and Islam, which had already been playing out in France, Spain, Italy, and Crete. A new and formidable threat then emerged from the east: the Turkish and Mongol hordes. The wars that followed, under the brutal leadership of men such as Saladin and Tamerlane, proved disastrous for the whole of Muslim civilisation.