MARTIN SICKER is a private consultant and lecturer who has served as a senior executive in the U.S. government and has taught political science at American University and George Washington University. Dr. Sicker has written extensively in the fields of political science and international affairs, with a special focus on the Middle East. He is the author of twelve previous books, including a companion volume in his multi-volume history of the Middle East, The Pre-Islamic Middle East (Praeger, 2000).

• Introduction Empire of the Quraish The Umayyad Empire The Abbasid Empire Abbasid Decline and Imperial Disintegration The Rise of the Seljukids The Period of the First Crusades The Era of the Zengids Saladin and the Ayyubid Empire The Eary Thirteenth Century The Mongol Onslaught Between Mamluks and Mongols The Rise of the Ottomans The Era of Murad and Bayezid Tamerlane End of the Byzantine Empire Mehmed the Conqueror The Rise of the Safavids Ottoman Expansionism under Selim The Era of Suleiman the Magnificent The End of Islamic Ascendancy Bibliography

MARTIN SICKER is a private consultant and lecturer who has served as a senior executive in the U.S. government and has taught political science at American University and George Washington University. Dr. Sicker has written extensively in the fields of political science and international affairs, with a special focus on the Middle East. He is the author of twelve previous books, including a companion volume in his multi-volume history of the Middle East, The Pre-Islamic Middle East (Praeger, 2000).

• Introduction Empire of the Quraish The Umayyad Empire The Abbasid Empire Abbasid Decline and Imperial Disintegration The Rise of the Seljukids The Period of the First Crusades The Era of the Zengids Saladin and the Ayyubid Empire The Eary Thirteenth Century The Mongol Onslaught Between Mamluks and Mongols The Rise of the Ottomans The Era of Murad and Bayezid Tamerlane End of the Byzantine Empire Mehmed the Conqueror The Rise of the Safavids Ottoman Expansionism under Selim The Era of Suleiman the Magnificent The End of Islamic Ascendancy Bibliography

MARTIN SICKER is a private consultant and lecturer who has served as a senior executive in the U.S. government and has taught political science at American University and George Washington University. Dr. Sicker has written extensively in the fields of political science and international affairs, with a special focus on the Middle East. He is the author of twelve previous books, including a companion volume in his multi-volume history of the Middle East, The Pre-Islamic Middle East (Praeger, 2000).

• Introduction Empire of the Quraish The Umayyad Empire The Abbasid Empire Abbasid Decline and Imperial Disintegration The Rise of the Seljukids The Period of the First Crusades The Era of the Zengids Saladin and the Ayyubid Empire The Eary Thirteenth Century The Mongol Onslaught Between Mamluks and Mongols The Rise of the Ottomans The Era of Murad and Bayezid Tamerlane End of the Byzantine Empire Mehmed the Conqueror The Rise of the Safavids Ottoman Expansionism under Selim The Era of Suleiman the Magnificent The End of Islamic Ascendancy Bibliography