Table of Contents

Preface

1. Introduction: The Fatimids in History 1
2. The Problem of Fatimid Origins 29
3. Revolt in the East 49
4. Revolution in the West 73
5. The Appearance of the Mahdi 100
6. The City of the Mahdi 135
7. The Doctrine of the Imam 176
8. The Horizons of Empire 219
9. The Conquest of Egypt 269
10. The Pattern of the State 317
11. The Circles of the World 364
12. Conclusion: Melchizedek 416

Bibliography 435
Maps 453

Index of Persons, Personages 465
Index of Dynasties, Peoples, Sects 481
Index of Places 485
Index of Subjects 492

About the Author

Michael Brett, Ph.D. (1970) in History, University of London, is Reader in the History of North Africa, School of Oriental and African Studies, London. His most recent publication is Ibn Khaldun and the Medieval Maghrib (Ashgate, 1999).

Reviews

'...a major contribution to Fatimid studies...'
Farhad Daftary, Royal Asiatic Society, 2002.