The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History (Princeton Classics): An Introduction to History - Abridged Edition: 13

This was written hundreds of years ago. Its as true today as the day it was written. Tragically so. A timeless, fascinating, deep insight into human beings and how we organise ourselves and repress others and ourselves, the rise and fall of Nations, leaders, Kings and empires. truly amazing. Its not a simple book, but its not as tough to read as you may think. a good translation. When i look at the politics going on in the world now, genoicide, hateful sectarianism etc....i can't help but hope that in future schoolchildren will be taught at a young age the wisdom in this book and carry its teachings throughout their lives. Nations rise and fall, kings get deposed and disappear from history, violence, enmity and hatred destroy and hurt everyone no matter who ended up "victorious". Life is short, the world doesn't belong to us and its usually not someone elses fault for the dire situation you may find yourselves in. This is a true classic explaining fully and lucidly just how weak, frightened, useless and vulnerable humans are and have always been and probably always will be.

This is a magnificent book, I highly recommend it to all. Ibn Khaldun was an exceptionally bright man (he is considered the father of economics and sociology by some, such is his greatness); during his time he held many influential political positions, he traveled around a great deal, he met many different types of people and studied with some of the greatest scholars in the Maghreb region. Due to his experiences he had a huge amount of knowledge and a lot of this knowledge is transferred into al-Muqaddimah. The book discusses a wide range of topics: the flaws of history works, how and why a dynasty rises and falls, what drives civilisation, sufism, alchemy, dream interpretation, etc. He gives us a fascinating insight as to how the world works (even now) and what civilisation was like during his life. This book will help you become more educated and it may even change your perspective of life. So yes buy this book you will not regret it!

I find it unbelievable that this book was written hundreds of years ago. So deep and detailed in real world facts and events, describing truthfully the beginning, glory days and decaying of empires. I wish that a summarised version is made available for our kids.

Excellent book, and the price was better than other suppliers.

Valuable knowledge

The book arrived in time. Highly recommended to read.

One of the best book of islamic history and history in general I have read. Very details. It can be a bit complicated to understand sometimes but it is worth understanding everything.

Makes for very interesting reading; she loved it

Very very poor printing quality. Very discomforting to the eyes. I won’t recommend it all. Totally disappointed for the money I spent. Some pages are totally blurred and different fonts and sizes in the same book. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK - A TOTAL DISCOMFORT to the eyes

This was an incredible book. Khaldun reviews just about every aspect of human civilization. The respected historian Arnold Toynbee sums up it perfectly. Quote; "Undoubtedly the greatest work of its kind that has ever been created by any mind in any time or place . . . the most comprehensive and illuminating analysis of how human affairs work that has been made anywhere." There a few highlights to Khaldun`s analysis. His biggest contribution is his comparison of a nation`s growth to the four seasons. The first generation of leadership has a high moral fibre and frugal management. The next generation has a living memory of the first generation. They maintain most of the first generations virtues. The third generation, however, has no living memory of the first generation. They become luxurious in their living conditions. Earlier civic virtues slowly melt away. The fourth generation is largely corrupted and become witnesses to their own destruction. Khaldun believes this can be compared to any natural process of; birth, growth, plateau, and then decay. He labels this social process Asabiya. Khaldun also has a brilliant assessment of the effects of taxation on society. Lower tax rates encourage business activity and society prospers. A raising of the tax rate does not equal a rise in tax revenues. The higher tax rates discourage business activity and result in lower tax revenues. Lao-Tze the Tao philosopher, also described the same results of high taxation. Yet this timeless advice is forever ignored by governments, with a few small exceptions. There are some aspects of the book, that may bother some readers. Khaldun is deeply religious. He constantly refers to religion throughout the book. Khaldun also holds extremely politically incorrect/racist views, regarding African and Slavic people. This book is highly recommended, warts and all.

Part of my personal interests lies in trying to understand how other times and other cultures understand the world. I read the Muqaddimah in that effort. This book is an abridgement of a 3 volume set of Ibn Khaldun's writings. The paperback, which I read, has 459 pages so it's not short. It reads reasonably well and, with one exception, which I will explain later, I assume that it has been faithfully translated. The book is subtitled "The Classic Islamic History of the World". "Classic" - yes, "Islamic" - yes, but "History" seems too limiting to me. The book seems to me to consider matters that I would describe as political science, sociology, anthropology, science, religion, etc. The translator notes the dangers of translating a text such as this - too literal and it may be largely incomprehensible to a current audience and probably eviscerates the literary content, which would have been understood by its original readers. Too much of the translator can impute meaning not intended by the original author. The book is very readable, but you must trust the translator. Ibn Khaldun was a devout Muslim and this will come through the book. He was also a scholar and, one aspect of his shcolarship which I found surprising, was his knowledge of Judaism and Christianity. A second, less surprising, aspect was his knowledge of Greek and, to a lesser extent, Roman authors of antiquity. A third aspect of his writings, which I valued greatly, was his clear description of the world in which he lived. The author repeatedly contrasts the rough world of the Bedouins and nomads with the "sedentary" world of cities and urban areas. These two worlds apparently had an uneasy coexistence, which may have counterparts in our own days with "yellow vests" and "deplorables" clashing with the political and cultural world of globalists. My impression is that Ibn Khaldun found the "sedentary" world more interesting. He explains how the nomads changed once they entered into "sedentary" life in urban areas. He also explained the cultural changes that occurred in urban life. But culture also changed when the Muslims conquered non-Muslim areas and it changed again, in Spain, when non-Muslims conquered what had been Muslim territory. He does not lament the loss of Spain, but clearly presents how matters changed. As an aside, I once heard one Hispanic scholar say that there were 6000 words in Spanish which were the same words in Arabic. The author considers the effect of climate on people, cultures, economies, and social organization. Real hot and real cold areas tend to slow people down. The temperate areas tended to have better agriculture with better food sources, and, consequently, larger urban populations. The one area where I question the translation is in the areas where Ibn Khaldun discussed science. His understanding of science clearly wasn't completely consistent with 21st century understanding, but his understanding was much better on some broad areas than I expected. So much so, that I wondered if the translator may not have injected the translator's understanding into the translation. The book covers much and I've only touched on a little. I've tried to provide a taste of what the author delivers. If you have a general interest in history and wish to broaden your exposure to other times, cultures and civilizations, I think you'll find the book to be worth your time.

God's work

Die Muqaddimah von Ibn Khaldun ist ein Meisterwerk der historischen Schriftstellerei. Dieses epochale Werk bietet nicht nur eine tiefgehende Analyse der Geschichtsschreibung, sondern auch eine beeindruckende Voraussicht auf soziale, wirtschaftliche und politische Entwicklungen. Die gründlichen Einblicke in den Aufstieg und Fall von Zivilisationen machen die Muqaddimah zu einem unverzichtbaren Werk für Geschichtsinteressierte. Ibn Khalduns einzigartiger Ansatz, die 'Asabiyya' oder soziale Kohäsion zu erklären, verleiht dem Werk eine zeitlose Relevanz. Ein absolutes Muss für jeden, der sich für Geschichtsschreibung, Soziologie und die menschliche Entwicklung interessiert.