Table of Contents
List of Illustrations xi
List of Maps xv
Acknowledgements xxxiii
A Note on Spelling xxxix
The Abbasid Dynasty xli
Preface xlii
1 The Caliph and His Capital: Mansur and the Foundation of Baghdad (750-751) 1
2 Harun al Rashid and A Thousand and One Nights in Baghdad (775-809) 27
3 'The Fountainhead of Scholars', Centre of the World (809-92) 62
4 The Later Abbasids: Farewell to The Meadows of Gold (1892-1258) 92
5 'This Pilgrimage of Destruction': The Mongol and Tatar Storm (1258-1401) 135
6 Black Sheep, White Sheep (1401-1534) 162
7 Of Turks and Travellers (1534-1639) 180
8 Plagues, Pashas and Mamluks (1639-1831) 206
9 Empires Collide (1831-1917) 239
10 A Very British Monarchy: Three Kings in Baghdad (1917-58) 283
11 Coups, Communists and Baathists: The Mother of All Bloodshed (1958-) 331
Appendix: Iraqi security apparatus under Saddam Hussein 381
Bibliography 384
Notes 401
Index 427