The Book of Saladin

1998 novel by Tariq Ali

978-1-85984-834-0Preceded byFear of Mirrors Followed bySnogging Ken 

The Book of Saladin is an historical novel by Pakistani-born British writer Tariq Ali, first published in 1998. The second in Ali’s Islam Quintet, the narrative purports to be the memoir of the 12th-century Muslim leader Saladin, or Salah al-Din, who famously captured Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187.[1]

Synopsis

Written as part memoir by Saladin and part biography by Jewish scribe Ibn Yakub, who is given permission to interview the great man’s wife and close associates, the novel tells the story of Salah al-Din, a Kurdish warrior who became a hero of the Muslim world due to his heroics against the Crusaders and was made Sultan of Egypt and Syria as a reward. Parallels are drawn between the Egypt and Syria of the Middle Ages and the Middle East of the present day, with all of the disagreements and strife so familiar today.[2]

External links

  • Tariq Ali discussing the Third Crusade and Saladin; BBC In Our Time Radio 4, with presenter Melvyn Bragg and Jonathan Riley-Smith, Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge University and author of many books on the Crusades, Carole Hillenbrand, Professor of Islamic History University of Edinburgh

Reviews

  • https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tariq-ali/the-book-of-saladin/
  • https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/184304.The_Book_of_Saladin
  • http://www.historicalnovels.info/Book-of-Saladin.html

References

  1. ^ "Explore the British Library".
  2. ^ "Fiction Book Review: The Book of Saladin by Tariq Ali, Author Verso $25 (367p) ISBN 978-1-85984-834-0".
  • v
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Tariq Ali
Essays and
monographs
  • Bush in Babylon (2003)
  • Rough Music: Blair, Bombs, Baghdad, London, Terror (2005)
  • The Duel: Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power (2008)
  • The Obama Syndrome (2010)
  • The Extreme Centre (2015)
  • The Dilemmas of Lenin (2017)
  • Winston Churchill: His Times, His Crimes (2022)
Novels
Edited volumes
Films
  • Partition (1987, writer)
  • Wittgenstein (1993, producer)
  • South of the Border (2009, writer)


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