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Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period, by Tarif Khalidi. (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization) 250 pages, bibliography, index. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. $54.95 (Cloth) ISBN 0-521-46554-0

The last few decades have seen a growing number of studies on Arabic and Islamic historical thought. Professor Khalidi, who has already contributed a fine but restricted work on this theme {Islamic Historiography, the Histories of Mas'udi, 1975) amplifies and expands his research in a well-written and documented work. He deals with aspects that have not received the attention they merit, such as the ways in which pre-modern Arabic and Islamic scholars have thought about the past, how they recorded it and how they sought to answer the many questions associated with the discipline of history. Translating extensively quotations from numerous scholars, he elucidates the driving logic behind their works. Khalidi argues that Arabic historiography and historical thought underwent, in a chronological order, the influence of four epistemic "domes": Hadith or sacred traditions, Adab or belles-lettres, Hikmah, or natural and philosophical sciences and Siydsah or political theory and practice. The volume under review is divided into four sections in accordance with these epistemic domes plus an introduction and a conclusion.