BookNook: Lost Islamic History by Firas Al Khateeb
A review of Lost Islamic History by Firas Al Khateeb
Alkhateeb aims to give a brisk, readable survey of 1,400 years of Muslim history— from the rise of Islam in 7th-century Arabia through the flowering of empires (Umayyad, Abbasid, Andalusian, Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal), the age of European imperialism, and the tumult of the modern era. The book grew out of the author’s popular blog, and it keeps that spirit: approachable, episodic, and written for general readers who want the big picture rather than an academic monograph.
What works
Clarity and pace. The prose is clean and unpretentious. Complex developments—early caliphal politics, the Abbasid “translation movement,” or Ottoman administrative reforms—are explained without jargon. You can hand this to a curious high-schooler or an adult reader new to the subject and they won’t bounce off.
Coherent narrative arc. Instead of a grab-bag of facts, the book offers a through-line: the creative dynamism of early Islamic civilization; the diffusion of ideas, trade, and institutions across a vast geography; fragmentation and renewal; and finally the encounter with modernity and colonial power.
Correctives to clichés. Alkhateeb pushes back—gently—against Eurocentric storylines that treat the Muslim world as a foil to “the West.” He foregrounds scientific, philosophical, and commercial exchange, showing how porous and mutually shaping those worlds were.
Useful on-ramp. For readers who don’t know where to start, it’s a well-lit doorway into a huge subject and points toward topics you might later explore in depth (Andalusian convivencia, the Delhi Sultanate, the Tanzimat, etc.).
Where it’s thinner
Broad strokes over nuance. Compressing so much history into a short book means some eras and regions get only a few pages. North and Sub-Saharan Africa outside of Egypt, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia—vital to Islamic history—receive limited attention.
Sourcing and balance. The tone is mostly synthetic and secondary-source driven. Specialists may find some interpretations conventional or simplified, and detractors will note a broadly Sunni mainstream framing with less sustained engagement with Shiʿi, Ibadi, and other perspectives.
Modern period complexity. The late-19th to 21st centuries are extraordinarily intricate; here the account sometimes reads as a quick tour rather than a sustained analysis of competing ideologies, state formation, and economic structures.
Style and structure
Chapters move chronologically, with short sections that make it easy to read in sittings. The author occasionally pauses for thematic interludes (science, law, trade), which helps connect political narrative to intellectual and social history. It’s more narrative than argumentative: you get a sense of “what happened,” with interpretive nudges rather than heavy thesis-driven claims.
Who should read it
Beginners and autodidacts who want a single, friendly volume before diving deeper.
Educators seeking an accessible overview to accompany a course or reading group.
General readers looking to contextualize current affairs without wading into dense scholarship.
If you’ve already read Marshall Hodgson’s Venture of Islam or Chase Robinson’s Islamic Civilisation in Thirty Lives, you may find Alkhateeb’s book elementary but still useful as a panoramic refresher.
Pair it with (for depth and range):
On institutions & thought: Jonathan Berkey, The Formation of Islam; George Saliba, Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance.
On regions underrepresented: Richard Eaton, India in the Persianate Age; Nile Green, Terrains of Exchange (for the Indian Ocean world).
On modernity and empire: Cemil Aydin, The Idea of the Muslim World; Ussama Makdisi, Age of Coexistence.
My thoughts
4/5. Lost Islamic History succeeds at what it promises: a clear, sympathetic, and sweeping introduction to a vast past that is often caricatured or ignored. It’s not a substitute for specialised study, and readers should seek complementary works for undercovered regions and the modern period. But as a starting map—one that opens doors rather than trying to close debates—it’s engaging, useful, and very easy to recommend.
Review: B. by Superdrug
An affordable and effective make-up and skincare range from Superdrug.
Have I ever told you how much I love Superdrug?
It’s genuinely one of the most underrated beauty stores on the high street. I think I’ve mentioned in a previous post that it’s the place to go if you want to find hidden gems and I can easily spend far more time than is healthy, wandering the aisles and accidentally spending a lot more money than I meant to!
It’s kind of like Primark in that sense. You go in thinking you need two things, but by the time you get to the tills, you’ve filled 2 baskets with all sorts and next thing you know, you’re walking out weighed down with a whole new wardrobe.
Anyway, back to the point at hand.
Superdrug has been busy widening its beauty ranges in the last few years and this includes launching their own vegan and cruelty free brand, B.
B. is an entire range of products including make-up, skincare, tanning, hair removal and men’s products. I love that all the products are no-frills, nicely packaged, effective and affordable. The range as a whole is too wide to discuss here, but I picked out some of my favourite items for you below.
B. Glowing Facial Booster
£9.99, 20ml
B. HD Flawless Face Primer
£9.99
B. Flawless Concealer
£5.99, 8ml, shade Medium
B. Bronzing Golden Body Shimmer Mist
£0.99, 125ml
B. Calm Camomile Facial Spritz
£8.99, 75ml
B. Shave Gel
£3.49, 190ml
The Crimes of Grindelwald: A Movie Review
I finally watched The Crimes of Grindelwald. Here are my thoughts.
I’m a huge movie lover but reviewing films I’ve seen hasn’t been something I’ve done here before, mainly because I couldn’t be bothered writing an actual review. I’m more of the ‘watch it and move on’ type, even about movies that I enjoyed immensely.
But the sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them released this year, and as a self-confessed Potterhead, it was of course, priority number one to see the films that have expanded our view of the wizarding world of Harry Potter.
I also felt like I had things to say about the whole spin-off malarkey, and by the look of things on social media, many of you felt the same way.
So here we go.
Let’s start with me saying that I enjoyed the movie. I genuinely did.
I keep calling it a movie because I’m so used to seeing “movie” written down, although the Brit inside me is screaming “nooo, it’s a film!” Do forgive the interchangeable use of both terms in this post.
Back to the point at hand, it’s a good, enjoyable film that takes you into new, unexplored areas of the wizarding universe. But I do have a few gripes if I’m honest. Most of these are just personal gripes and I fully understand why these things were done the way they were; I just happen to think they could have been done differently, in a way that would add much more to the story.
I suppose the first issue is the lack of books. With Harry Potter we pretty much knew what was coming and how it would end; the thrill was just in seeing the Potterverse come to life. For me, the Harry Potter books provided all the backstory, the details of the thoughts and motivations behind each character and the actions they took. Clearly you can’t do that with a film unless you decide to have a narrator taking 9 hours to tell you everything.
But I think the lack of books ultimately made me feel that something was lacking with the film. As a standalone visionary piece of work, the film is great. My disappointment is that it could have been so much more, if only there had been books, particularly when it comes to developing a real relationship with the characters and rooting for them to win. As much as I love Newt, Harry will always have that #1 spot in my heart.
Secondly, Johnny Depp.
I’m wondering whether I need to explain this further so for any of you not in the know about the furore there, there is a helpful article here.
I do understand that he’s signed up to do the films, there are contracts in place and I assume financial penalties for the production company if they release him from the contract early.
Also, there’s the whole schtick about character continuity. Apart from Richard Harris dying after the second Harry Potter film, an entire generation has grown up seeing the same people play the same characters every time. It would be a bit much for the Potterverse if Depp was removed, although to my mind, he certainly should be.
Thirdly, Nagini. The Harry Potter fans are well aware that Nagini is the name of Voldemort’s pet snake but we are introduced to her backstory in The Crimes of Grindewald. Rowling tells us Nagini is a Maladictus, a person with a blood curse which ultimately renders the human an animal for the remainder of their life following an ability to shapeshift into a particular animal, earlier in life.
Nagini’s form is a snake, and the blood curse appears to affect Malaysians. The problem I have here is that whilst there may be some cultural truth to the legend/myth of the Maladictus in Asia, part of me is wondering (quite cynically) whether the casting of Nagini had anything to do with Rowling wanting to prove a point about diversity.
I am South Asian myself and I fully believe that popular culture in the West ought to reflect the diversity and plurality of Western populations. My problem is that we know Nagini is a subservient pet to Voldemort, and I feel a very uncomfortable link between old Orientalist tropes about submissive Asian women, and Nagini’s role in this film.
I’ll just leave that one there. Simply put, it gives me an icky feeling.
I have more gripes including the timeline being inaccurate where the young Professor McGonagall is concerned. She would have been a baby at the time the film is set, so how on earth she’s teaching Hogwarts students, goodness only knows. But there we go.
I have to say overall that the film in and of itself is good. It is worth watching if you can suspend your disbelief. I happen to be a total Potterhead so I picked up on things I didn’t like and things I felt didn’t fit, but I would recommend watching the film if the world of Harry Potter interested you.
Honey & Orange Facial Scrub by Neal's Yard Remedies
Review. This is one for the citrus lovers and skincare freaks.
The smell.
That’s what hits you the first time you open a pot of this scrub. Not a harsh, in-your-face kind of way; more of a ‘hey, time to wake up, here’s some zing’ kind of way.
I love orange scented skincare. In fact, it’s odd because if I had to eat something orange flavoured (read: Terry’s Chocolate Orange), it would make me gag. But that fresh smell of citrus in anything beauty related wins me over every single time.
Neal’s Yard have created a gentle, physical exfoliant with this scrub. It’s packed with skin friendly ingredients including honey, ground rice (the scrubby exfoliating bits), kaolin (clay to deeply cleanse), sunflower seed oil, orange oil and neroli. The mixture of oils means that your skin doesn’t drag. Instead, you’re left with supple feeling, slightly moisturised skin that looks visibly clean and clear.
You can tell this scrub impresses me because I don’t generally use physical scrubs at all. I’m a firm believer in the power of exfoliating acids but there are a select few products that seem to hit the spot every time, and this is one of them.
Neal’s Yard is a mid-range brand and the product prices reflect this. But for the quality of the ingredients and products overall, it’s well worth the splurge.
It doesn’t take very much at all to work. Scoop out a pea size amount and add a little water to turn it into a paste. Apply to the skin - I like to massage in circular motions and diagonally downwards to give my muscles a little bit of a workout. Wash off and you’re done.