Christian-Muslim Relations, A Bibliographical History ─ 1200-1350

This volume is an encyclopedia of writing that touches on the relationships between Christians and Muslims, published from 1200-1350. Everything from theology to literature is included. It is edited by David Thomas (project director, Muslim Arabic texts) and Alex Mallett (project fellow, minor languages). Additional contributing editors are specialists in Iberian Arabic, Syriac, Greek, Christian Arabic, and Latin; this is a truly diverse catalogue of works. The body of the book is a series of short essays describing these works, organized chronologically and by author's name. The catalogue is marvelously broad, including everything from rhetorico-philosophical scholarly commentaries in the Arabic tradition to the Letter of Prester John, and Rumi to Dante. Arabic and Persian works are centrally represented; this is far more than a catalogue of Christian views of Islam, and minority voices in the discourse (Arab Copts, Jews, Greek Syriacs, and others) are represented. The essays themselves are models of learned scholarship in plain prose; they are recommended for their erudition, religious and political neutrality, and clarity. Each gives biographical information on an author, with primary and secondary sources. Information on the works they wrote that touch on Christian-Muslim relations follow, with the original language and date of publication, text name in original language and English, a description of the work, its significance, and bibliographic information: location and history of manuscript copies, editions and translations, and scholarly studies. There are preliminary essays by Herman G.B. Teule, Daniel G. Konig, Sharon Kinoshita and Siobhain Bly Calkin, and David M. Freidenreich. The book is well produced, and will stand up to use as a core reference work. In addition to its importance to specialists in a variety of fields, it may interest educated general readers who want an encyclopedia of the extraordinary literary, intellectual, and religious conversation between the Muslim world and the West. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

David Thomas, PhD (1983) in Islamic Studies, University of Lancaster, is Professor of Christianity and Islam and Nadir Dinshaw Professor of Inter Religious Relations at the University of Birmingham. Among his most recent works are Christian Doctrines in Islamic Theology (Brill, 2008) and CMR vols 1-3 (Brill, 2009-11).Alex Mallett has a PhD (2009) in Islamic History from the University of Edinburgh. His most recent works include CMR2 (Brill, 2010) and CMR3 (Brill, 2011)