And supplement to 1972.

This volume provides a good road map for the subject with alphabetical entries of sites, cultures, terminology, and countries. Entries for terminology are brief but well cross-referenced. Sites and countries receive more comprehensive treatment including historical overviews, suggestions for further reading, and references to other entries. Longer articles are usually preceded by a concise summary in italics. The functional black-and-white illustrations include plans, diagrams, maps, and photographs of monuments. A comprehensive index concludes the volume. (from CHOICE review by M. Nielsen)

Leaman first conducts what in the forest management lexicon of chaparral ecology is called a ‘‘controlled burn.’’ That is to say, he carefully clears away all the thick underbrush of theoretical shibboleths, facile ‘‘orientalist generalizations,’’ and suffocating if not supercilious Sufi approaches that appear to preclude a properly aesthetic appreciation and discernment of the semantic richness of both religious and secular art in the Islamic world. Among the regnant presuppositions, assumptions, and ‘‘arguments’’ consumed in this deliberate fire...: that ‘‘Islamic art is essentially Sufi’’; that ‘‘Islamic painting is very different from other forms of painting’’; that ‘‘Islamic art is essentially minor’’ or it is ‘‘atomistic’’; that ‘‘there is a horror of the empty in Islamic art’’; or that ‘‘calligraphy is the supreme Islamic art.’’ (from Philosophy East & West review)

[Baker] argues also for redefining many commonly used terms and emphasizing the dominance of the Muslim religion in the arts. Ten chapters reinforce these basic premises. The introduction is followed by discussions of the religion; the importance of calligraphy; prayer; aspects of paradise; pilgrimage; mysticism; the community and its leaders; aspects of dress; and, lastly, a summary of the impact of Western technology and accompanying colonialism on the periphery. Her sources are based mainly on religious, historical, art and architectural, anthropological, sociological, and cultural works. (from CHOICE review by C. Kane)

In a series of well-researched, concise essays, the authors explore the relationship of Islamic society not only to specific building types such as markets and tombs but to building materials and principles of ornamentation as well. Includes glossary and bibliography. (from Library Journal review)

This detailed work studies the development of Islamic calligraphy and the capability of the written Arabic language to unite diverse Muslim peoples. The text includes striking examples of calligraphy from different historical periods and countries of the Islamic world. (from Middle East Journal review)

Volume 5 in the series Voices of Islam, which aims to introduce Islam to a western audience unfamiliar with its history and traditions.

It is both a survey of our knowledge, and the limits of that knowledge, and a stimulating interpretive essay. Including all media, and the entire territory from Spain to Central Asia, this book is the indispensable point of departure for the study of early Islamic art. The scholarly apparatus of footnotes and bibliography is first-rate, but the book is written in a relatively accessible jargon-free style and does not require specialized prior knowledge. (from CHOICE review by L. Nees)

This is a worthy sequel to The Art and Architecture of Islam, 650-1250 (1987) by the eminent scholars Richard Ettinghausen and Oleg Grabar in the series "The Pelican History of Art." Produced in a remarkably short time for a book of its breadth and scholarship, the work under review is up-to-date in the current research on Islamic art, and the text is informative as well as lucid. The authors investigate the vast artistic material of the Muslim world succinctly, explaining subjects such as patronage and the role of the artist and workshops and raising questions regarding the function, purpose, and meaning of the work of art in regional and imperial Islamic lands. (from CHOICE review by U. U. Bates)