Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization)

Khalidi's thesis is that 4 approaches dominated classical Arabic historiography. In chronological order, they are hadith, adab, hikma and siyasa. The hadith approach focused on judging the authenticity of historical reports by examining the chain of transmission. Adab is often translated as "belles-lettres". This approach focused on the moral and intellectual lessons taught by history. Hikma refers to the secular sciences which inspired a more all encompassing historiographic approach. Finally, siyasa, the science of good government, led to comprehensive histories often designed for bureaucrats.Khalidi includes many excerpts from the historians he discusses. Since so many of the historians are not well known in the West, this is a useful feature. Whether or not you agree with Khalidi's categorization, this book will teach you a lot about Arabic historiography.