Books like A history of Islamic societies by Ira M. Lapidus

An engaging narrative of world history told from the perspective of the Islamic world, tracing its rise from the time of Muhammad to the fall of the Ottoman Empire and beyond.

A concise history of Islam that challenges Western misconceptions, showing the faith’s complexity beyond its contemporary political controversies.

Encyclopedic and panoramic in its scope, this fascinating work chronicles the rich spiritual, political, and cultural institutions of Arab history through 13 centuries.

The present volume is not intended as a competitor with Brockelmann and Hitti, Gibb and von Grunebaum, Rosenthal and Lewis, Levi-Provençal and Spuler and Gabrieli-to name but a few of the brilliant historians whose writings have done so much to recover and reinterpret the record. Its scope is at once more modest and, in a certain way, more fundamental. This book is a series of documents illustrating the development of Islamic civilization, texts translated from the languages in which they were originally composed by famous protagonists of that culture. The intention is to present a panorama of Muslim life and thought and achievement as depicted from within. The translations, a considerable part of which has not been published hitherto, are all the work of a single scholar and represent the gleanings of more than thirty years of assiduous reading. They are meant to throw light on the literary, intellectual and religious movements within Islam, as well as illuminating something of the politics and the sociology, ranging from the origins in the sixth century down to the present day. It should of course be confessed that they constitute the merest fragments of literatures preserved in overwhelming abundance, exceeding many times what has survived from ancient Greece and Rome, a repertory of many tens of thousands of volumes, the majority still in manuscript, not a few of immense length. The passages chosen, however, have been taken from the most highly esteemed and authoritative works; and the attempt has been made to construct a balanced and rounded picture. -- from Introduction (p. [9]-10).

Primarily a political history of the Islamic world, the book aims to be a "bird's-eye view of the fortunes of the believers in Islam". The first half of the book covers pre-Islamic history in the region, the rise of Muhammad and his political descendents, the Islamic empire's rise and fall, and the rise of the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Empire. Fully half the book is devoted to the history of individual nations from the nineteenth century onwards, including the Ottoman Empire/Turkey, Egypt, Ottoman territories in Eastern Europe, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and elsewhere in North Africa, Sudan, Persia/Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, and Iraq. Throughout, the analysis includes discussions of important thinkers and regional differences within each empire.

The Oxford History of Islam presents a broad scholarly survey of Islam’s origins, institutions, and cultural achievements, written in a reader‑friendly style.

An updated textbook that traces Islam’s history from its founder Mohammed through classical developments, modern interactions with the West, and contemporary issues such as women, democratization, and human rights, with focus on key concepts, art, and culture.