Hugh Kennedy

Hugh Kennedy

Baghdad as a Center of Learning and Book Production

Since 2007 Hugh Kennedy has been Professor of Arabic at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. After completing a PhD at the University of Cambridge, he taught for thirty-five years in the Department of Medieval History in the University of St Andrews, Scotland, ending as Professor of Middle Eastern History. His primary interest is in the political and economic history of the Middle East between c.600 and 1000 CE but he has also written books on Crusader Castles and Al-Andalus. He is the author of ten books, including The Great Arab Conquests (2007), The Court of the Caliphs (2004), The Armies of the Caliphs (2001) and The Early Abbasid Caliphate; a Political History (1981).