These essays, written over a period of thirty years, crystallise Professor Issawi's insights on Arab civilisation. They cover a wide variety of subjects: cultural and demographic history, economics, and politics -- from the seventh century to the present. About half the book is devoted to the formative period of classical Islamic civilisation; the other half is devoted to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These views give an idea of the size complexity, and structure of a vast, ancient, and modern civilisation.