This volume focuses on the problems researchers face when using (Byzantine) Greek, Syriac and Arabic sources together for the reconstruction of Near Eastern history from 400-c. 800. Contributions to the volume set the stage for a critical re-reading and revisionist interpretations of selected sources in the various cultural and literary traditions. The volume thus brings together neighbouring disciplines in ways that shed new light on this vitally important time in history. 1. MICHAEL WHITBY, Greek Historical Writing after Procopius: Variety and Vitality 2 . AVERIL CAMERON, New Themes and Styles in Greek Literature: Seventh-Eighth Centuries 3. JOHN HALDON, The Works of Anastasius of Sinai: A Key Source for the History of Seventh-Century East Mediterranean Society and Belief 4. G. J. REININK, Ps.-Methodius: A Concept of History in Response to the Rise of Islam 5. HAN J. W. DRIJVERS, The Gospel of the Twelve Apostles: A Syriac Apocalypse from the Early Islamic Period 6. Wadad Al-QADI Early Islamic State Letters: The Question of Authenticity 7. Stefan Leder, The Literary Use of the Khabar: A Basic Form of Historical Writing 8. Lawrence I. Conrad, The Conquest of Arwad: A Source-Critical Study in the Historiography of the Early Medieval Near East The need for such a project as this has been felt by students ... concerned with the birth of the new faith and the evolution of Islamic society. (C. Edmund Bosworth)
