Arabs, Tim MackintoshSmith
Arabs, Tim MackintoshSmith
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Arabs
A 3,000-Year History of Peoples, Tribes, and Empires

Author: Tim Mackintosh-Smith

Narrator: Ralph Lister

Unabridged: 25 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/30/2019

Synopsis

A riveting, comprehensive history of the Arab peoples and tribes that explores the role of language as a cultural touchstone This kaleidoscopic book covers almost three thousand years of Arab history and shines a light on the footloose Arab peoples and tribes who conquered lands and disseminated their language and culture over vast distances. Tracing this process to the origins of the Arabic language, rather than the advent of Islam, Tim Mackintosh-Smith begins his narrative more than a thousand years before Muhammad and focuses on how Arabic, both spoken and written, has functioned as a vital source of shared cultural identity over the millennia. Mackintosh-Smith reveals how linguistic developments—from pre-Islamic poetry to the growth of script, Muhammad’s use of writing, and the later problems of printing Arabic—have helped and hindered the progress of Arab history, and investigates how, even in today’s politically fractured post–Arab Spring environment, Arabic itself is still a source of unity and disunity.

About Tim Mackintosh-Smith

Tim Mackintosh-Smith is an eminent Arabist, translator, and traveler whose previous publications include Travels with a Tangerine and Yemen. He has lived in the Arab world for thirty-five years and is a senior fellow of the Library of Arabic Literature.

About Ralph Lister

Ralph Lister is an actor, voice actor, and AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator. He spent fifteen years in London theater before moving to the United States to focus on film and television. He has held numerous roles in Shakespeare and modern dramas, as well as starring roles in independent films. His voice and character work can be heard in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearland 13 Going On 30. He lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Tariq on August 06, 2019

With little written history, but a whole lot of oral tradition, its little wonder that Tim has taken writing about the Arabs focusing on their language and cultural traditions, which makes this book very unique. The Arabs have pretty much maintained their rich tribal culture of raiding and pillaging......more

Goodreads review by Alex on May 08, 2019

One of the most fascinating books I have ever read. Mackintosh Smith masterfully weaves the history of the Arabs through the lens of the evolution of the Arabic language, articulating his mastery of the Arabic language and how it has shaped the people in turn. I learned a massive amount from this bo......more

Goodreads review by Nigel on February 10, 2020

In 1992 on a flight from Cairo to Sana'a I found myself sitting next to an Englishman of almost exactly my age who was returning to his home in Yemen. Smalltalk developed into conversation, which developed into an offer of a lift from the airport into the city. Once he had blagged his way through im......more

Goodreads review by Omar Ali on October 14, 2019

Tim Mackintosh Smith is one of those romantic Englishmen who used to go and settle in far off lands and "go native". He lives in Yemen (apparently still there, even during the civil war) and has been writing about the region and the Arab people for several decades. This book is the culmination of a......more

Goodreads review by Tim on May 23, 2020

This is a humane, scholarly but highly readable book by one of that diminishing breed, the sensitive British Arabist who is as much Arab as British and who manages to be both detached in observation and engaged as a liberal who loves his adopted culture. He is based in Yemen. South Arabian and Yemeni......more

Quotes

"[A] superb account of the Arabs over three millennia.” Wall Street Journal

“Commanding erudition and a swashbuckling style define this history of the Arabs.” Sunday Times (London)

"[An] extraordinary new survey.” New Statesman

“There can hardly be a better guide than Mackintosh-Smith, who has near-mythical status among western observers of the Middle East.” Irish Times (Dublin)

“Although Mackintosh-Smith’s book is perfectly scholarly, it is not a dutiful plod through a succession of slaughtered sultans and viziers…On the contrary, Arabs keeps throwing out brilliant insights, like sparks from a Catherine wheel.” Literary Review

“This brilliant and fascinating history book will change the way we analyze the happenings in the Arab world.” Washington Book Review

“A marvelous journey brimming with adventure and poetry and narrated by a keen, compassionate observer.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Strips away centuries of erroneous myth-making…Anyone hoping to understand, let alone write about the Middle East, will need to read and inhale this profound, witty, and scholarly achievement.” Barnaby Rogerson, author of The Last Crusaders

“Quite brilliant…I am full of admiration for this inspiring book, with its quite original and timely view of Arab historical identity.” Philip Kennedy, author of Recognition in the Arabic Narrative Tradition

“Superb. What really distinguishes this book from others is the sheer number of its insights into Arab history, all of which are tantalizing.” Steven C. Caton, professor of contemporary Arab studies at Harvard University

Awards

  • Amazon Best Book of the Month
  • Amazon.com Bestseller
  • Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books
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