Mecca: A Literary History of the Muslim Holy Land

Description

For the non-Muslim, Mecca is the most forbidden of Holy Cities--and yet, in many ways it is the best known. Muslim historians and geographers have studied it, and countless pilgrims and travelers--many of them European Christians in disguise--have left behind lively and well-publicized accounts of life in Mecca and its associated shrine-city of Med

Honorable Mention for the 1994 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Sociology and Anthropology, Association of American Publishers "Full of informative detail, and with substantial notes and bibliography, [Peters'] work is a true scholar's guidebook to further study."--Library Journal "[F. E.] Peters ... has constructed an entertaining and highly informative record of the vicissitudes of Mecca and Medina throughout the ages."--J. B. Kelly, National Review "The author ... has sought to assemble, arrange, and explain the accounts of Muslims as well as non-Muslims--from sincere to fraudulent--about the Holy Land... F. E. Peters has definitely succeeded in accomplishing his goal... [He] has definitely done an outstanding job of explaining the accounts of various travelers to the Holy Land."--The Historian