Empire of the Mahdi

Heinz Halm, Ph.D. (1967) in Islamic Studies, University of Bonn, is Emiritus Professor of Islamic History at the University of Tübingen. He specialises in Shi‘ite Iran; his book Shiism appeared in an English translation in 1991.Michael Bonner, Ph.D. (1987) in Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University, was Associate Professor of Medieval Islamic History at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His translation of A. Noth, Quellenkritische Studien zu Themen, Formen und Tendenzen frühislamischer Geschichtsüberlieferung was published in 1994 as The Early Arabic Historical Tradition.

'Grammarians, linguists, Semiticists, Ethiopianists, students, and curious speakers of Amharic will be well and long served by this exemplary work. For advanced students of the language, it will become an indispensable tool.'Grover Hudson, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1998.Good news: Heinz Halm's excellent outline of the early history of the Fāṭimids is now available in English...The impression that this volume, despite its high scholarly claim, almost appears like a 'best-seller', may be acknowledged with pleasure by everybody expecting from a book in the non-fictional area, in addition to new insights and an increase of knowledge, also a fair deal of literary entertainment.Sebastian Günther, Bibliotheca Orientalis, 1998.