Books by Michael Morony

Morony's Iraq After The Muslim Conquest presents a brief yet through presentation of the complex language and political history of the Aramaeans of that region. The interaction of the Aramaeans and the Arabs during the period of the Islamic conquest is sketched out, citing the important families and individuals that stand out in this situation.

As the oldest organized religion in Sassanian Iraq, Judaism serves as a kind of model for other religious organizations in the region. Messianic expectations as they continued to develop in the Jewish community in diaspora round out this discussion of Judaism as a fully developed religion in Iraq under Islamic rule.

This brief introduction to the state of Christianity in Iraq during the ascendancy of Islam begins with a discussion of the friction between Christians and Magians. With the Islamic conquest various traditions circulated regarding the tolerance of Christianity within Muslim jurisdiction.

Morony compares conditions in late Sasanian and early Islamic Iraq in the seventh century AD and depicts both the emergence of a local form of Islamic society, and the interaction of Muslim conquerors from Arabia with the native population.

In revising this book for a second edition, Harry Blamires has updated his final chapters to give a thorough coverage to the work of dramatists, novelists and poets who have achieved prominence in the 1980s, either as new writers or rediscovered authors who have recently been brought back into print or revived by radio and television.

The author traces the course of literary criticism from its foundations in classical and medieval precepts to the theorising of the present day. He explores the texts which have been milestones in the history of critical thought, placing them firmly in the context of their time.