This documentary history of Islam from the advent of the prophet Muhammed to the capture of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed, the Conqueror, is concerned with a period that extends from the 7th century to 1453; with a region that stretches from Western Arabia to embrace the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Asia, tropical Africa, and southern and eastern Europe; and with people and states, which, amid many diversities, share a common acceptance of the faith and law of Islam. Bernard Lewis, a widely-known authority on the Middle East, here translates from original sources and documents works that present the sweeping civilization of Islam in all its vastness and glory.