Roy Mottahedeh

There are several major problems with this book. The author's intention is to use the social categories used in the sources to discuss tenth century near eastern society, rather than the categories of modern social science since the use of such categories is anachronistic ad can be misleading. However, he is insufficiently reflective regarding the possibility of "entering fully and imaginatively" into the culture of another time and place. (vii) Also, throughout the book he describes loyalties and social arrangements between "men" thereby creating a world in which, apparently, there were no women. Finally, he refers to places like "Iraq" and "Iran" which did not exist in the tenth century, thereby projecting nations backward in time.… (meer)