Arabs, Islam and the Arab caliphate in the early Middle Ages

the long version

The dramatic rise to power of the Arab Caliphate in the early Middle Ages was a development critical not only to the Arab people but also to the history of Islam. In this book E.A. Belyaev, a leading Soviet orientalist, examines the key elements in the formation and expansion of the Caliphate. In so doing, he explores the related question of Islam's conquest of Arabia -- an event for which, Professor Belyaev notes, "the formation of a slave-holding regime [the Caliphate] within a decaying primitive-communal society" was partially responsible. - Jacket flap.