Captives and Companions
A History of Slavery and the Slave Trade in the Islamic World
$31.42
- Paperback
560 pages
- Release Date
29 September 2026
Summary
A startling exploration of slavery in the Islamic world from the 7th century to the present.
Slavery in the Islamic world has a long, diverse, and controversial history. Captives and Companions is a brilliant synthesis of history and contemporary reportage that brings to life the voices of the enslaved in stories of eighth-century concubines and ninth-century revolts, thirteenth-century slave soldiers who established dynastic rule over Egypt, Syria, and Iraq, eighteenth-centu…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780141997650 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0141997656 |
| Author: | Justin Marozzi |
| Publisher: | Penguin Books Ltd |
| Imprint: | Penguin Books Ltd |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 560 |
| Release Date: | 29 September 2026 |
| Weight: | 400g |
| Dimensions: | 196mm x 129mm x 25mm |
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What They're Saying
Critics Review
Drawing on the work of a new generation of Turkish and north-African historians who have challenged “the default setting of denial,” [this] is a monumental revisionist work that will alter views on slavery inside and outside the Islamic world – Christopher de Bellaigue * Wall Street Journal *
A bold, brilliant and timely history that confronts one of the most neglected and uncomfortable subjects in global history. Justin Marozzi brings to life the complexity and humanity of the Islamic world’s entanglement with slavery using an extraordinary range of sources, across more than a millennium and across sweeping geographies. Not just a mesmerising book, but a profoundly important one too – Peter Frankopan
An unsentimental unveiling of a subject that has long been shrouded in scholarly purdah…An elegant and ambitious synthesis, serving up a scintillating compendium of lives.. .Gliding through the ages, Marozzi’s prose recalls an older tradition of history writing - the effortless fluidity of a John Julius Norwich of Jan Morris. Reading him one thinks of Tintoretto: vast canvases, mannered style, high drama, narrative drive – Pratinav Anil * The Times *
A remarkably humane work, written in urbane and polished prose. A rare combination of the erudite and the adventurous, the author… provides first-person glimpses into contemporary slavery in Mali, Libya, Tunisia and Mauritania. Marozzi has once again made a meaningful and enjoyable contribution to historical debate – Bartle Bull * Literary Review *
About The Author
Justin Marozzi
Justin Marozzi is a historian and journalist who has spent most of his professional life living and working in the Muslim world. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a former Trustee of the Royal Geographical Society. He is also a senior advisor to the Middle East Association.
His previous books include:
- South from Barbary - Along the Slave Routes of the Libyan Sahara (2001)
- Tamerlane - Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World (2004)
- The Man Who Invented History - Travels with Herodotus (2008)
His last book, Baghdad - City of Peace, City of Blood (2014), won the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize and was praised by the judges as ‘a truly monumental achievement’.
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