The History of Al-Tabari: The Sasanids, the Byzantines, the Lakmids,

Islam arrived on the scene relatively late so al-Tabari had to include a fair amount of background information before the advent of Muhammad. This volume contains accounts of the interactions betweeen the Persians and Byzantines, especially wars. Both sides employed Arab allies. The Lakhmids were a famous tribe with their capital at Hira. They were probably the group that developed the Arab alphabet. By the 6th century they were Christianised, despite being Persian allies.This account contains information unavailable anywhere else so it is important source for these two civilisations. There is an extensive section on Mazdakism, a social revolutionary movement and heresy of Zoroastrianism.

Excellent book and translation

Must read book for TERRORIST.

This is just one of 39 volumes translating the Universal History of al Tabari, and it is a dense text. The book covers Arab involvement in the titanic struggle between Byzantium and Iran, or as the Ancients would have said Rome and Persia. The translation has copius notes, showing links with other Islamic and eastern Christian sources. Helpfully it often uses the Arab term in the text as well as the modern term for an office, Roman name or district. Eastern Christian sources have now been translated often for the first time by Liverpool and other University presses. This allows access to an even more alien historical tradition. This gives the Arab perspective on the Roman empire; other volumes give this perspective on Greek and Jewish history, seemingly preserving alternative traditions and chronologies, from those inherited through greek ands Latin.

A solid reference work that clearly highlights how tenth-century historians perceived the sixth and seventh centuries.