POSTAL SYSTEMS IN THE PRE-MODERN ISLAMIC WORLD by Adam J. Silverstein ( 9780521147613 )

Item Details

Title:

POSTAL SYSTEMS IN THE PRE-MODERN ISLAMIC WORLD

By:

Adam J. Silverstein

Format:

Paperback

List price:

£30.99

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£27.12

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£3.87

ISBN 10:

0521147611

ISBN 13:

9780521147613

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Publisher:

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Pub. date:

6 May, 2010

Series:

Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization

Pages:

230

Description:

A fascinating account of the official methods of communication employed in the pre-modern Near East.

Synopsis:

Adam Silverstein's book offers a fascinating account of the official methods of communication employed in the Near East from pre-Islamic times through the Mamluk period. Postal systems were set up by rulers in order to maintain control over vast tracts of land. These systems, invented centuries before steam-engines or cars, enabled the swift circulation of different commodities - from letters, people and horses to exotic fruits and ice. As the correspondence transported often included confidential reports from a ruler's provinces, such postal systems doubled as espionage-networks through which news reached the central authorities quickly enough to allow a timely reaction to events. The book sheds light not only on the role of communications technology in Islamic history, but also on how nomadic culture contributed to empire-building in the Near East. This is a long-awaited contribution to the history of pre-modern communications systems in the Near Eastern world.

Publication:

Imprint:

Cambridge University Press

Returns:

Returnable

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