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Worlds of Islam: A Global History
'A brilliant and captivating work ... There is simply no better book on Islam in history’ Eugene Rogan
From its birth in seventh-century Arabia, Islam has been a faith on the move. In Worlds of Islam, James McDougall explores its origins and transformations from Late Antiquity to the digital age.
Over the span of a thousand years, armies, missionaries, and merchants carried it to the edges of Europe, the coasts of Southeast Asia, and the remote interior of China. By the nineteenth century, Islam encompassed a world of great diversity, from Muslim-ruled empires to nations where Muslims lived out their faith among many others. In the twentieth century, while monarchs in the Gulf asserted dynastic privilege and fundamentalists in Egypt and Pakistan preached social morality, revolutionaries from Algeria to Indonesia fought for national self-determination, and activists in North America and Europe campaigned for civil liberties and social justice.
As empires fell and new superpowers rose, Muslims proved to be as adaptable and dynamic as modernity itself. Sweeping and authoritative, Worlds of Islam narrates the epic story of how Muslims emerged as a community, built empires, traversed the globe, came to number in the billions, and became modern.
From its birth in seventh-century Arabia, Islam has been a faith on the move. In Worlds of Islam, James McDougall explores its origins and transformations from Late Antiquity to the digital age.
Over the span of a thousand years, armies, missionaries, and merchants carried it to the edges of Europe, the coasts of Southeast Asia, and the remote interior of China. By the nineteenth century, Islam encompassed a world of great diversity, from Muslim-ruled empires to nations where Muslims lived out their faith among many others. In the twentieth century, while monarchs in the Gulf asserted dynastic privilege and fundamentalists in Egypt and Pakistan preached social morality, revolutionaries from Algeria to Indonesia fought for national self-determination, and activists in North America and Europe campaigned for civil liberties and social justice.
As empires fell and new superpowers rose, Muslims proved to be as adaptable and dynamic as modernity itself. Sweeping and authoritative, Worlds of Islam narrates the epic story of how Muslims emerged as a community, built empires, traversed the globe, came to number in the billions, and became modern.
588 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 20, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 23, 2025
A detailed account of Islamic History, with a particularly detailed focus on the more modern aspects.
Beginning with the origins of Islam in Chapter 1, this is a broadly Chronological account of the individuals and events which constitute a history of Islam. The book narrates the momentous events such as the fall of Constantinople and 9/11, as well as telling stories about individuals living in specific places like Africa and Afghanistan.
While it is generally helpful to approach historical issues Chronologically, it did mean that some regional aspects ended up being somewhat artificially spread across multiple chapters. That was particularly noticeable with issues relating to Pakistan, where the Mughal Empire was in one chapter, Victorian Colonialism was in another, Independence was in yet another, and the East-West Pakistan issues were in yet a different chapter. In terms of reading experience that ended up feeling a bit disjointed. That may make it somewhat difficult for readers who are interested in dipping into the book to read about Islamic history in a specific geographical region.
One of the issues with historical accounts which relate to specific religions is that there can sometimes be questions of objectivity. I felt that the Modern aspects of the book were noticeably working hard to be objective, and that was very welcome. For example, Hamas were identified as both raising genuine issues, as well as being involved in unacceptable violence and antisemitic rhetoric. In a similar vein, the accounts of recent events in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, did well to identify the contributions of both local factors as well as specific Western policies which had arguably exacerbated issues.
Where I was less sure of objectivity was in some of the earlier aspects of the book, where it was dealing with the origins of Islam and some of the more faith traditions. Sometimes the author went out of his way to stress that specific details were being provided ‘according to Muslim Tradition’ (such as the prophetic revelations in the cave at Mecca).
But at other times, points were made that sounded on the surface as if they were portraying objective historical facts, yet they were potentially embedding contentious faith-based interpretation. For example, in chapter 1 the book tells us that Indian trade routes ran to Mecca and ‘skirted it and passed through it.’ However, there is a question about the extent to which that view reflects Muslim tradition, rather than historical evidence, as some scholars have noted that Mecca does not appear on some early trade maps.
Where these issues of trade seemed to come to a bit of a head was in footnote 8 in chapter 1, where the author cited Patricia Crone in relation to the leather trade in Mecca, but didn’t acknowledge her (other) book where she questions the core idea that Mecca was a major trading centre, as portrayed in Muslim Tradition. Clearly the author cannot engage with every possible point of controversy, but it seemed odd that the controversy wasn’t even noted in passing.
Similar questions sprang to mind when I read in chapter 3 that ‘all Muslims agreed on the contents of the Quran.’ Yes, that is what Muslim Tradition states, yet there are some scholars now referring to issues of Quranic variants, who are effectively arguing a different thesis. Again, it is not possible to engage with those kinds of complex textual issues in a book like this. But surely its possible for the book to express itself more carefully so that it is not (inadvertently?) assuming faith Traditions as if they were facts?
Those kinds of issues made me feel less confident about the earlier sections of the book. However, when the text moved to the medieval and modern era, I felt more confident that what I was reading was indeed evidenced history.
Overall, this is a weighty tome with an impressive breadth of detail. I think it was aimed at a non-academic readership, as only 10% of the text is footnotes. However, the writing style is still somewhat ‘dry,’ and so I think it would probably be enjoyed most by graduate readers.
(These are honest opinions based on a Free ARC digital version of the text, which was made available for the purpose of review. Readers should be aware that final versions of a published text sometimes differ from those seen by reviewers).
Beginning with the origins of Islam in Chapter 1, this is a broadly Chronological account of the individuals and events which constitute a history of Islam. The book narrates the momentous events such as the fall of Constantinople and 9/11, as well as telling stories about individuals living in specific places like Africa and Afghanistan.
While it is generally helpful to approach historical issues Chronologically, it did mean that some regional aspects ended up being somewhat artificially spread across multiple chapters. That was particularly noticeable with issues relating to Pakistan, where the Mughal Empire was in one chapter, Victorian Colonialism was in another, Independence was in yet another, and the East-West Pakistan issues were in yet a different chapter. In terms of reading experience that ended up feeling a bit disjointed. That may make it somewhat difficult for readers who are interested in dipping into the book to read about Islamic history in a specific geographical region.
One of the issues with historical accounts which relate to specific religions is that there can sometimes be questions of objectivity. I felt that the Modern aspects of the book were noticeably working hard to be objective, and that was very welcome. For example, Hamas were identified as both raising genuine issues, as well as being involved in unacceptable violence and antisemitic rhetoric. In a similar vein, the accounts of recent events in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, did well to identify the contributions of both local factors as well as specific Western policies which had arguably exacerbated issues.
Where I was less sure of objectivity was in some of the earlier aspects of the book, where it was dealing with the origins of Islam and some of the more faith traditions. Sometimes the author went out of his way to stress that specific details were being provided ‘according to Muslim Tradition’ (such as the prophetic revelations in the cave at Mecca).
But at other times, points were made that sounded on the surface as if they were portraying objective historical facts, yet they were potentially embedding contentious faith-based interpretation. For example, in chapter 1 the book tells us that Indian trade routes ran to Mecca and ‘skirted it and passed through it.’ However, there is a question about the extent to which that view reflects Muslim tradition, rather than historical evidence, as some scholars have noted that Mecca does not appear on some early trade maps.
Where these issues of trade seemed to come to a bit of a head was in footnote 8 in chapter 1, where the author cited Patricia Crone in relation to the leather trade in Mecca, but didn’t acknowledge her (other) book where she questions the core idea that Mecca was a major trading centre, as portrayed in Muslim Tradition. Clearly the author cannot engage with every possible point of controversy, but it seemed odd that the controversy wasn’t even noted in passing.
Similar questions sprang to mind when I read in chapter 3 that ‘all Muslims agreed on the contents of the Quran.’ Yes, that is what Muslim Tradition states, yet there are some scholars now referring to issues of Quranic variants, who are effectively arguing a different thesis. Again, it is not possible to engage with those kinds of complex textual issues in a book like this. But surely its possible for the book to express itself more carefully so that it is not (inadvertently?) assuming faith Traditions as if they were facts?
Those kinds of issues made me feel less confident about the earlier sections of the book. However, when the text moved to the medieval and modern era, I felt more confident that what I was reading was indeed evidenced history.
Overall, this is a weighty tome with an impressive breadth of detail. I think it was aimed at a non-academic readership, as only 10% of the text is footnotes. However, the writing style is still somewhat ‘dry,’ and so I think it would probably be enjoyed most by graduate readers.
(These are honest opinions based on a Free ARC digital version of the text, which was made available for the purpose of review. Readers should be aware that final versions of a published text sometimes differ from those seen by reviewers).
February 6, 2026
I learned a lot, but I am not the most satisfied.
Too much opinion in a certain direction and a vaguer approach in covering certain types of events; overall the book is subtly targeted towards a certain type of a misinformed biased reader, arguing for a certain vision of Islam's history and present that's more accurate than most, yet still is clearly lacking in terms of neutral facts, as some of those are sacrificed to make arguments in the way of soft activism.
Good read, just could've been better, especially towards the end.
Too much opinion in a certain direction and a vaguer approach in covering certain types of events; overall the book is subtly targeted towards a certain type of a misinformed biased reader, arguing for a certain vision of Islam's history and present that's more accurate than most, yet still is clearly lacking in terms of neutral facts, as some of those are sacrificed to make arguments in the way of soft activism.
Good read, just could've been better, especially towards the end.
November 11, 2025
Worlds of Islam was an interesting and in-depth overview of Islamic history ranging from its inception in the 600s all the way to the modern period. While I personally found the writing a little dry and the chronology a challenge to follow, the book provides some important perspectives on the development of Islam throughout history. McDougall explores the themes of Islam vs. Islamism, meaning the faith itself vs. its political manifestations, and the cultural results of this comparison. The discussions of the ancient period (600s to the 1600s) felt a little reductive, but the later chapters felt very thorough and provided in-depth information about the changes wrought to Islamic societies by international relations.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Basic Books for the eARC!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Basic Books for the eARC!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews