Professor Avi Shlaim reviews In Ishmaels House: A History of the Jews in Muslim Lands
Date
Share
The Financial Times has published a review by Avi Shlaim of In Ishmaels House: A History of the Jews in Muslim Lands, by Martin Gilbert.
Avi describes the book as ambitious in scope, tackling a relatively neglected but fascinating subject. However, he adds, Gilbert is an anecdotal historian, not an analytical one. He has produced a lively chronicle of the Jews in Muslim countries from Morocco to Afghanistan. He has rich materials at his disposal and he is attentive to the human voices of individuals. But his account is both highly selective and narrowly focused on the Jews. What is missing is the wider political, social and economic context to enable the reader to place the Jewish minority in each Muslim country within its proper historical perspective.
