The Venture of Islam has been honored as a magisterial work of the mind since its publication in early 1975. In this three-volume study, illustrated with charts and maps, Hodgson traces and interprets the historical development of Islamic civilization from before the birth of Muhammad to the middle of the twentieth century. This work grew out of the famous course on Islamic civilization that Hodgson created and taught for many years at the University of Chicago.

In this concluding volume of The Venture of Islam, Hodgson describes the second flowering of Islam: the Safavi, Timuri, and Ottoman empires. The final part of the volume analyzes the widespread Islamic heritage in today's world.

"This is a nonpareil work, not only because of its command of its subject but also because it demonstrates how, ideally, history should be written."The New Yorker

List of Charts

List of Maps

Book Five: Second Flowering: The Empires of Gunpowder Times

Prologue to Book Five

I. The Safavi Empire: Triumph of the Shi'ah, 1503-1722

II. The Indian Timuri Empire: Coexistence of Muslims and Hindus, 1526-1707

III. The Ottoman Empire: Shari'ah-Military Alliance, 1517-1718

IV. Before the Deluge: The Eighteenth Century

Book Six: The Islamic Heritage in the Modern World

Prologue to Book Six

I. The Impact of the Great Western Transmutation: The Generation of 1789

II. European World Hegemony: The Nineteenth Century

III. Modernism in Turkey: Westernization

IV. Egypt and East Arab Lands: Revival of the Heritage

V. Iran and the Russian Empire: The Dream of Revolution

VI. Muslim India: Communalism and Universalism

VII. The Drive for Independence: The Twentieth Century

Epilogue: The Islamic Heritage and the Modern Conscience

A Selective Bibliography for Further Reading

Glossary of Selected Terms and Names

Index to Volume III