A History of the Muslim World

Michael Cook's survey follows the Muslim world from the time of the Prophet Muhammad to the threshold of the nineteenth century, with an epilogue that carries the account to the present day. It starts in the Middle East of late antiquity, treats the rise of Islam as a black swan event, and traces the Caliphate from its rapid growth to its breakup. Cook argues that wherever a society and its rulers became Muslim, they broke sharply with the pre-Islamic past. The book also covers the Abbasids, the Fatimids, the Mongols, the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires, and regions from East Africa and Madagascar to Southeast Asia, quoting many primary sources along the way. It was published in 2024.

Tyler Cowen said it would perhaps be one of his two choices to head his list of the best non-fiction of 2024.