The great Islamic conquests AD 632-750

Chronology

Background to war: Pre-Islamic Arabia

Outbreak: The birth of Islam and the unifying of Arabia

The warring sides: Armies of the Middle East and the Mediterranean

The fighting: A rising religion meets tired empires

Portrait of a soldier: Two warriors of Arabia

From conquest to Empire: The Umayyad century

How the war ended: The fall of the Umayyad dynasty

The world around the war: Architecture and religion

Portrait of a civilian: A man of letters and a man of God

Conclusion.