I just finished "When Baghdad ruled the Muslim World". It covered the Abbassid dynasty, which held the caliphate from 750 AD to about 930-940 AD. There was a part of the story that echoed the last book I read, "The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization". Starting in the latter part of the 9th century, the caliphate came increasingly under the control of the military, and there were constant civil wars and succession conflicts. During the last few of those, Baghdad was besieged, and the irrigation system that had been built up was destroyed - and it's never recovered. The descriptions of Baghdad as a lush city with rich agricultural lands surrounding it sound nothing like the Bagdad that exists now (or that has existed at any time since the 10th century).

As with the other book, it's a reminder of just how fragile civilization really is. For all our advancements, we share the same thin veneer that Rome and the early caliphate did.

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