Book Reviews: History of the Arabs : From the Earliest Times to the Present. By PHILIP K. HITTI. (New York: The Macmillan Company. Fifth Edition. 1951. Pp. xxiii, 822. $9.00.)

Published date01 December 1952
Date01 December 1952
DOI10.1177/106591295200500447
Subject MatterArticles
713
History
of
the
Arabs :
From
the
Earliest
Times
to
the
Present.
By
PHILIP
K.
HITTI.
(New
York:
The
Macmillan
Company.
Fifth
Edition.
1951.
Pp.
xxiii,
822.
$9.00.)
Professor
Hitti,
in
this
revised
edition,
continues
to
make
available
.
to
English-reading
persons
a
co-ordinated
and
well-rounded
presentation
of
a
much
neglected
area
of
learning.
This
work
is
the
one
basic
text
not
only
of
the
history
of
the
Arabs,
but
also
of
the
history
of
Islam
in
general.
The
author’s
emphases
are
on
the
period
beginning
with
the
century
A.D.
and
ending
with
the
termination
of
Mamluk
rule
in
Egypt
in
1517.
However,
he
also
supplies
the
main
known
details
in
regard
to
earlier
Arab
history.
In
a
relatively
brief
closing
section,
the
sequel
to
the
main
narrative
is
provided.
Whereas
the
Near
East
of
antiquity
has
received
comprehensive
treatment
by
Western
scholars,
the
coverage
of
many
phases
of
the
Islamic
era
is
still
poorly
integraded.
Every
student
who
is
at
all
anxious
to
bridge
this
gap
would
be
well
advised
to
begin
with
Professor
Hitti’s
work,
in
which
there
are
many
hints
as
to
aspects
of
the
subject
worth
examining
at
greater
length.
To
cite
only
a
few
prominent
examples,
there
are
the
matters
of
sectarianism
within
Islam,
the
interaction
between
Islamic
and
Christian
philosophies
and
cultures,
the
tolerance
of
early
Moslem
rulers
vis-a-vis
ideas
external
to
Islam,
the
role
of
Jews
in
trans-
mitting
knowledge
and
ideas
from
one
section
to
the
other
of
the
bipolar
world,
and
the
mixed
Christian-Moslem
cultures
of
Spain
and
Sicily.
Any
viable
solution
to
the
present-day
difficulties
of
the
Near
East
and
North
Africa
must
be
sought,
at
least
partially,
in
that
relatively
remote
past
era
upon
which
Professor
Hitti
bases
his
main
concentration.
University
of
Alabama.
HEDLEY
V.
COOKE.
Dred
Scott’s
Case.
By
VINCENT
C.
HOPKINS.
(New
York:
Fordham
Uni-
versity
Press.
1951.
Pp.
ix,
204.
$4.00.)
Although
described
on
the
dust
jacket
as
a
&dquo;study
in
law,
politics,
journalism,
theory
of
government,
and
the
history
of
human
freedom,&dquo;
this
book
more
appropriately
should
be
described
as
the
first - a
study
in
law.
In
this
respect
the
work
has
its
weakness
and
strength
in
that
probably
the
case
is
worth
such
full
treatment,
but
by
restricting
the
scope
of
the
study
as
is
done
here,
much
of
value
is
missed.
The
first
three
chapters
are
devoted
to
a
discussion
of
the
owners
of
Dred,
Dred
himself,
and
the
way
the
case
got
into
court.
The
next
four
chapters
deal
chiefly
with
the
arguments
of
the
lawyers
before
the
United
States
Supreme
Court
and
the
opinions
rendered
by
each
of

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