Table of Contents

Preface; 1. The problem of Byzantium and the early Islamic conquests; 2. The Byzantine Empire in an era of accelerating change; 3. Difficulties in devising defences for Syria; 4. The first Muslim penetrations of Byzantine territory; 5. Early tests in southern Palestine; 6. Problems of cohesion: the battle of Jabiya-Yarmuk reconsidered; 7. The brief struggle to save northern Syria and Byzantine Mesopotamia; 8. Byzantium, Armenia, Armenians, and early Islamic conquests; 9. Controversy and confidence in the seventh-century crisis; 10. Elements of failure and endurance; Bibliography; Index.

Promotional Information

This book examines how the Byzantine Empire came to lose so much of its territory to Islamic conquerors in the seventh century.

Reviews

'An important contribution to the debate on the Arab Islamic conquests of the eastern Roman provinces in the seventh century.' John Haldon, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society