A realistic, well-documented study. Important illustrations and primary evidence now made accessible.--Irving R. Mix, Elmira College An important book which explains the issue of slavery in the Middle East.--Robert A. Hess, Messiah College An excellent and timely work on an important and rather neglected issue.--Ehsan Yarshater, Columbia University Splendid--should supplant all previous discussions.--Paul A. Rahe, University of Tulsa A splendid discussion of a difficult subject.--Paul A. Rahe, University of Tulsa Deceptively brief, delightfully easy to read, and beautifully illustrated.--Journal of Interdisciplinary History Bernard Lewis an exceptionally distinguished historian of the Middle Eastern world....[A]uthoritative addresses to reality like his will serve excellently instead, and they make him a matchless guide to the background of Middle East conflict today.--David Pryce-Jones, Commentary [A] pioneering work.--David Warren Bowen, Magill's Literary Annual Highly readable.--The New York Review of Books This book will foster Bernard Lewis's reputation as the doyen of Middle Eastern studies.--The New York Times Book Review Mr. Lewis's knowledge of Islamic history, literature, and jurisprudence is so detailed, expansive, and profoundly integrated that it is enough for him to merely refer to a period or an instance to be able to envision the entire context.--The Washington Times His scholarship must be respected...He skillfully sets up and explicates the primary paradoxes of the Islamic view of slavery and of race...[A book] that surely should be read.--Journal of Social History
