Ibn Khaldun - by Robert Irwin

Book Synopsis

The definitive account of the life and thought of the medieval Arab genius who wrote the Muqaddima

Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) is generally regarded as the greatest intellectual ever to have appeared in the Arab world--a genius who ranks as one of the world's great minds. Yet the author of the Muqaddima, the most important study of history ever produced in the Islamic world, is not as well known as he should be, and his ideas are widely misunderstood. In this groundbreaking intellectual biography, Robert Irwin provides an engaging and authoritative account of Ibn Khaldun's extraordinary life, times, writings, and ideas.

From the Back Cover

"Few scholars are more fun to read than Robert Irwin. Not just an authority on medieval Arabic culture, he's also a literary journalist and novelist who writes with clarity, zest, and an almost encyclopedic erudition. To illuminate the life and thought of the fascinating fourteenth-century historian Ibn Khaldun, Irwin looks at The Arabian Nights, the philosophy of Averroes, Islamic occultism, Sufism, the researches of modern Arabists, and even the science fiction of Isaac Asimov. The result is an exhilarating work of intellectual recovery--learned, entertaining, and very welcome."--Michael Dirda, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and author of Classics for Pleasure and Browsings

"Robert Irwin takes a genuinely fresh look at one of the greatest Arab thinkers. Too often--as he shows--Ibn Khaldun has been lifted out of the fourteenth century and remodeled to fit our modern assumptions. This lively and deeply knowledgeable account makes him authentically unmodern, and utterly fascinating."--Noel Malcolm, All Souls College, University of Oxford

"Using his virtually unrivaled knowledge of the Mamluk world, Robert Irwin puts Ibn Khaldun in his context as no one else has done. Irwin also gives a marvelous account of how Orientalists, historians, colonialists, and nationalists have interpreted Ibn Khaldun to serve their purposes, from the Ottoman Empire to the present. This is the work of a scholar at the height of his powers."--Francis Robinson, author of The Mughal Emperors

"Questioning conventional views of Ibn Khaldun, this important book reflects Robert Irwin's deep knowledge and understanding of the medieval Muslim mind."--Hugh Kennedy, author of Caliphate: The History of an Idea

Review Quotes

"One of the Financial Times' Best Books of the Year: Critics' Picks"

"One of Asian Review of Books' Books of the Year (Biography & Memoir)"

About the Author

Robert Irwin (1946-2024) was senior research associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and a former lecturer at the University of St Andrews. His many books include Dangerous Knowledge: Orientalism and Its Discontents and Memoirs of a Dervish: Sufis, Mystics, and the Sixties, as well as seven novels. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.