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Dickens and Travel: The Start of Modern Travel Writing
by Lucinda HawksleyFrom childhood, Charles Dickens was fascinated by tales from other countries and other cultures, and he longed to see the world. In Dickens and Travel, Lucinda Hawksley looks at the journeys made by the author – who is also her great great great grandfather. Although Dickens is usually perceived as a London author, in the 1840s he whisked his family away to live in Italy for year, and spent several months in Switzerland. Some years later he took up residence in Paris and Boulogne (where he lived in secret with his lover). In addition to travelling widely in Europe, he also toured America twice, performed onstage in Canada and, before his untimely death, was planning a tour of Australia. Dickens and Travel enters into the world of the Victorian traveller and looks at how Charles Dickens’s journeys influenced his writing and enriched his life.
Dickensland: The Curious History of Dickens's London
by Lee JacksonThe intriguing history of Dickens’s London, showing how tourists have reimagined and reinvented the Dickensian metropolis for more than 150 years “Jackson paints a vivid and detailed picture of the city as it was. . . . Dickens, who was no stranger to the instructive and comedic joys of pedantry, would surely have approved.”—Ann Alicia Garza, Times Literary Supplement Tourists have sought out the landmarks, streets, and alleys of Charles Dickens’s London ever since the death of the world-renowned author. Late Victorians and Edwardians were obsessed with tracking down the locations—dubbed “Dickensland”—that famously featured in his novels. But his fans were faced with a city that was undergoing rapid redevelopment, where literary shrines were far from sacred. Over the following century, sites connected with Dickens were demolished, relocated, and reimagined. Lee Jackson traces the fascinating history of Dickensian tourism, exploring both real Victorian London and a fictional city shaped by fandom, tourism, and heritage entrepreneurs. Beginning with the late nineteenth century, Jackson investigates key sites of literary pilgrimage and their relationship with Dickens and his work, revealing hidden, reinvented, and even faked locations. From vanishing coaching inns to submerged riverside stairs, hidden burial grounds to apocryphal shops, Dickensland charts the curious history of an imaginary world.
Dickens's Artistic Daughter Katey: Her Life, Loves & Impact
by Lucinda HawksleyA biography of a Victorian-era woman who grew up as the daughter of novelist Charles Dickens—and found a creative career of her own. Katey Dickens was born into a house of turbulent celebrity and grew up surrounded by fascinating, famous, and infamous people. From a very young age, she knew her vocation was to be an artist. Lucinda Hawksley charts the life of a celebrated portrait painter who redefines our preconceptions about Victorian women. Living to be almost ninety, Katey survived an unconventional marriage, love affairs, heartbreak, depression, and the challenges of being a female artist in a male-dominated era. Compelling and illuminating, this biography of Katey Dickens tells the story of a spirited woman who found fame at the center of the first celebrity phenomenon; it also uncovers the reality of what it was like to be a child of Charles and Catherine Dickens.
Dickie Bird Autobiography: An honest and frank story
by Dickie BirdDickie Bird's retirement was an international event shown on TV screens and newspapers throughout the world. He is a household name, an eccentric, and one of the most loved and respected characters in world cricket. His idiosyncratic style and infectious humour has endeared him to millions, transcending his sport.Fiercely proud of his background as a Yorkshire miner's son, his account follows his youth in Barnsley, his early days as a cricketer, through to his career as an umpire and his experiences of the international scene, all told with total honesty by this very private person. As the most respected umpire in the game, Dickie has serious and constructive points to make about modern cricket. He has fearlessly berated fast-bowlers when necessary. He has some sharp comments to make about ball tampering and he has mixed feelings about the introduction of the third umpire. Dickie wanted to go out at the top and he has certainly done so - after standing at 66 Test matches, three World Cup finals and 92 one-day Internationals.Combining forthright views on the game and those involved in it, compelling accounts of what it is like behind the scenes in cricket at the highest level, and the hilarious stories for which Dickie is so well known, here is the refreshing and enjoyable autobiography of a sporting legend.
Dickie Bird Autobiography: An honest and frank story
by Dickie BirdDickie Bird's retirement was an international event shown on TV screens and newspapers throughout the world. He is a household name, an eccentric, and one of the most loved and respected characters in world cricket. His idiosyncratic style and infectious humour has endeared him to millions, transcending his sport.Fiercely proud of his background as a Yorkshire miner's son, his account follows his youth in Barnsley, his early days as a cricketer, through to his career as an umpire and his experiences of the international scene, all told with total honesty by this very private person. As the most respected umpire in the game, Dickie has serious and constructive points to make about modern cricket. He has fearlessly berated fast-bowlers when necessary. He has some sharp comments to make about ball tampering and he has mixed feelings about the introduction of the third umpire. Dickie wanted to go out at the top and he has certainly done so - after standing at 66 Test matches, three World Cup finals and 92 one-day Internationals.Combining forthright views on the game and those involved in it, compelling accounts of what it is like behind the scenes in cricket at the highest level, and the hilarious stories for which Dickie is so well known, here is the refreshing and enjoyable autobiography of a sporting legend.
Dickory Cronke: The Dumb Philosopher, or, Great Britain's Wonder
by Daniel DefoeSynopsis not available
Dictator Literature: A History of Bad Books by Terrible People
by Daniel KalderA Book of the Year for The Times and the Sunday Times &‘The writer is the engineer of the human soul,&’ claimed Stalin. Although one wonders how many found nourishment in Turkmenbashi&’s Book of the Soul (once required reading for driving tests in Turkmenistan), not to mention Stalin&’s own poetry. Certainly, to be considered great, a dictator must write, and write a lot. Mao had his Little Red Book, Mussolini and Saddam Hussein their romance novels, Kim Jong-il his treatise on the art of film, Hitler his hate-filled tracts. What do these texts reveal about their authors, the worst people imaginable? And how did they shape twentieth-century history? To find out, Daniel Kalder read them all – the badly written and the astonishingly badly written – so that you don&’t have to. This is the untold history of books so terrible they should have been crimes.
The Dictators: 64 Dictators, 64 Authors, 64 Warnings from History
by Iain Dale**IAIN DALE'S LATEST COLLECTION OF ESSAYS: AVAILABLE TO BUY NOW** Praise for Iain Dale:'Riveting and enlightening. A history lesson via a novel route. ' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Really enjoying reading this book. It is easy to dip in and out and each chapter is well written.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Illuminating yet balanced' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Were the signs that Putin is a ruthless dictator there all along? How should we deal with President Xi of China? Given the world seems to be moving more and more towards authoritarian rule, this is the right moment to seek warnings, and lessons, from history.In The Dictators, Iain Dale brings together 64 essays by historians, academics, journalists and politicians about elected and unelected dictators, wartime and peacetime dictators, those driven by ideology and those with a reputation for sheer brutality. How did these tyrants, autocrats and despots seize power - and how did they exercise it? And how did they lose it? Very few dictators die peacefully in their own beds, after all.Only by examining these figures from the 6th century BC to the present, from ancient Greece to present day Saudi Arabia, do patterns start to emerge. We can see the shared character traits, the common conditions, the patterns of behaviour that have enabled dictators to seize power - time and time again.The Dictators is acutely relevant to world politics today: it is indeed a warning from history. Will we take heed? Or will history, in fact, teach us that history teaches us nothing?
The Dictators: 64 Dictators, 64 Authors, 64 Warnings from History
by Iain Dale**IAIN DALE'S LATEST COLLECTION OF ESSAYS: AVAILABLE TO BUY NOW** Praise for Iain Dale:'Riveting and enlightening. A history lesson via a novel route. ' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Really enjoying reading this book. It is easy to dip in and out and each chapter is well written.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Illuminating yet balanced' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Were the signs that Putin is a ruthless dictator there all along? How should we deal with President Xi of China? Given the world seems to be moving more and more towards authoritarian rule, this is the right moment to seek warnings, and lessons, from history.In The Dictators, Iain Dale brings together 64 essays by historians, academics, journalists and politicians about elected and unelected dictators, wartime and peacetime dictators, those driven by ideology and those with a reputation for sheer brutality. How did these tyrants, autocrats and despots seize power - and how did they exercise it? And how did they lose it? Very few dictators die peacefully in their own beds, after all.Only by examining these figures from the 6th century BC to the present, from ancient Greece to present day Saudi Arabia, do patterns start to emerge. We can see the shared character traits, the common conditions, the patterns of behaviour that have enabled dictators to seize power - time and time again.The Dictators is acutely relevant to world politics today: it is indeed a warning from history. Will we take heed? Or will history, in fact, teach us that history teaches us nothing?
The Dictators: 64 Dictators, 64 Authors, 64 Warnings from History
by Iain Dale**IAIN DALE'S LATEST COLLECTION OF ESSAYS: AVAILABLE TO BUY NOW** Praise for Iain Dale:'Riveting and enlightening. A history lesson via a novel route. ' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Really enjoying reading this book. It is easy to dip in and out and each chapter is well written.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Illuminating yet balanced' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Were the signs that Putin is a ruthless dictator there all along? How should we deal with President Xi of China? Given the world seems to be moving more and more towards authoritarian rule, this is the right moment to seek warnings, and lessons, from history.In The Dictators, Iain Dale brings together 64 essays by historians, academics, journalists and politicians about elected and unelected dictators, wartime and peacetime dictators, those driven by ideology and those with a reputation for sheer brutality. How did these tyrants, autocrats and despots seize power - and how did they exercise it? And how did they lose it? Very few dictators die peacefully in their own beds, after all.Only by examining these figures from the 6th century BC to the present, from ancient Greece to present day Saudi Arabia, do patterns start to emerge. We can see the shared character traits, the common conditions, the patterns of behaviour that have enabled dictators to seize power - time and time again.The Dictators is acutely relevant to world politics today: it is indeed a warning from history. Will we take heed? Or will history, in fact, teach us that history teaches us nothing?
The Dictator's Last Night
by Yasmina Khadra'People say I am a megalomaniac. It is not true. I am an exceptional being, providence incarnate, envied by the gods, able to make a faith of his cause.' October 2011. In the dying days of the Libyan civil war, Muammar Gaddafi is hiding out in his home town of Sirte along with his closest advisors. They await a convoy that will take them south, away from encroaching rebel forces and NATO aerial attacks. The mood is sombre. In what will be his final night, Gaddafi reflects on an extraordinary life, whilst still raging against the West, his fellow Arab nations and the ingratitude of the Libyan people. In this gripping imagining of the last hours of President Gaddafi, Yasmina Khadra provides us with fascinating insight into the mind of one of the most complex and controversial figures of recent history.
The Dictator's Shadow: Life Under Augusto Pinochet
by Heraldo MunozAugusto Pinochet was the most important Third World dictator of the Cold War, and perhaps the most ruthless.<P><P> In The Dictator's Shadow, United Nations Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz takes advantage of his unmatched set of perspectives--as a former revolutionary who fought the Pinochet regime, as a respected scholar, and as a diplomat--to tell what this extraordinary figure meant to Chile, the United States, and the world. Pinochet's American backers saw his regime as a bulwark against Communism; his nation was a testing ground for U. S. -inspired economic theories. Countries desiring World Bank support were told to emulate Pinochet's free-market policies, and Chile's government pension even inspired President George W. Bush's plan to privatize Social Security. The other baggage--the assassinations, tortures, people thrown out of airplanes, mass murders of political prisoners--was simply the price to be paid for building a modern state. But the questions raised by Pinochet's rule still remain: Are such dictators somehow necessary? Horrifying but also inspiring, The Dictator's Shadow is a unique tale of how geopolitical rivalries can profoundly affect everyday life.
Dictée
by Theresa Hak Kyung ChaDictée is the best-known work of the versatile and important Korean American artist Theresa Hak Kyung Cha. A classic work of autobiography that transcends the self, Dictée is the story of several women: the Korean revolutionary Yu Guan Soon, Joan of Arc, Demeter and Persephone, Cha's mother Hyung Soon Huo (a Korean born in Manchuria to first-generation Korean exiles), and Cha herself.
A Dictionary of Coastal Command, 1939–1945
by Geoff SimpsonAn alphabetical account of the part in the Second World War played by the Kipper Fleet as it was known in the RAF. Coastal Command often lacked resources compared with other home commands, giving it its other nickname of the Cinderella Service. Its main role was defensive that of protecting Britains vital sea borne supply lines in home waters as well as in the Mediterranean, the Middle East and around the coasts of Africa.Coastal Command also acted in an offensive capacity, particularly in the so-called Battle of the Barges in 1940 which helped deter Hitler from invading the UK, and in the Mediterranean and the Baltic, attacking German shipping. Coastal Command, however, is most usually remembered for the war against the U-boats, one that was eventually won.From A to Z this well-illustrated book tells the story of the gallantry, the achievements, the losses, the VCs, the aircraft and much else about RAF Coastal Command.
The Dictionary of Lost Words: A Novel
by Pip WilliamsEsme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, an Oxford garden shed in which her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Young Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word bondmaid flutters beneath the table. She rescues the slip and, learning that the word means “slave girl,” begins to collect other words that have been discarded or neglected by the dictionary men. <p><p> As she grows up, Esme realizes that words and meanings relating to women’s and common folks’ experiences often go unrecorded. And so she begins in earnest to search out words for her own dictionary: the Dictionary of Lost Words. To do so she must leave the sheltered world of the university and venture out to meet the people whose words will fill those pages. <p><p> Set during the height of the women’s suffrage movement and with the Great War looming, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. Inspired by actual events, author Pip Williams has delved into the archives of the Oxford English Dictionary to tell this highly original story. The Dictionary of Lost Words is a delightful, lyrical, and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words and the power of language to shape the world.
A Dictionary of Political Biography
by Dennis KavanaghFrom Churchill, Stalin, and Kennedy, to Blair, Clinton and Mandela, A Dictionary of Political Biography covers all the major figures in world politics of the twentieth century. Compiled by an expert team of contributors under the editorship of Dennis Kavanagh, this new dictionary contains over 1,000 entries which describe and assess the lives of the men and women who have shaped political events across the world. Each entry includes an account of the background, career, and achievements of the individual concerned, balancing fact with critical appraisal.Including entries on Idi Amin, Yasser Arafat, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Slobadan Milosevic, Francois Mitterrand, Mary Robinson, and Mao Zedong, A Dictionary of Political Biography is an indispensable and authoritative reference for anyone interested in twentieth-century history and politics.
A Dictionary of the Sacred Language of All Scriptures and Myths (Routledge Revivals)
by G GaskellG. A. Gaskell’s Dictionary of the Sacred Language of All Scriptures and Myths, first published in 1923, examines several different aspects of religion, including examples from Ancient Egyptian religion and mythology to modern-day Christianity, providing explanations of gods, events, and symbols in alphabetical order. This is a perfect reference book for students of theology or the history of religion.
The Dictionary People: The Unsung Heroes Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary
by Sarah OgilvieA WASHINGTON POST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION FINALIST • The New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice • A history and celebration of the many far-flung volunteers who helped define the English language, word by word.&“Enthralling and exuberant, Sarah Ogilvie tells the surprising story of the making of the OED. Philologists, fantasists, crackpots, criminals, career spinsters, suffragists, and Australians: here is a wonder book for word lovers.&” —Jeanette Winterson, author of Oranges Are Not the Only FruitThe Oxford English Dictionary is one of mankind&’s greatest achievements, and yet, curiously, its creators are almost never considered. Who were the people behind this unprecedented book? As Sarah Ogilvie reveals, they include three murderers, a collector of pornography, the daughter of Karl Marx, a president of Yale, a radical suffragette, a vicar who was later found dead in the cupboard of his chapel, an inventor of the first American subway, a female anti-slavery activist in Philadelphia . . . and thousands of others. Of deep transgenerational and broad appeal, a thrilling literary detective story that, for the first time, unravels the mystery of the endlessly fascinating contributors the world over who, for over seventy years, helped to codify the way we read and write and speak. It was the greatest crowdsourcing endeavor in human history, the Wikipedia of its time. The Dictionary People is a celebration of words, language, and people, whose eccentricities and obsessions, triumphs, and failures enriched the English language.
Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (or Just Me)?: Adventures in Boyhood
by Jay EllisJay Ellis, star of HBO&’s Insecure, tells the story of growing up with an imaginary best friend you will never forget—part Dwayne Wayne from A Different World, part Will Smith from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air—in this hilarious, vulnerable memoir.&“So funny, poignant, and personal. I loved this and you will, too.&”—Mindy Kaling, author of Why Not Me? and Nothing Like I ImaginedWhat to do when you&’re the perpetual new kid, only child, and military brat hustling school to school each year and everyone&’s looking to you for answers? Make some shit up, of course! And a young Jay Ellis does just that, with help from his imaginary friend, Mikey.A testament to the importance of invention, trusting oneself, and making space for creativity, Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (or Just Me)? is a memoir of a kid who confided in his imaginary sidekick to navigate parallel pop culture universes (like watching Fresh Prince alongside John Hughes movies or listening to Ja Rule and Dave Matthews) to a lifetime of birthday disappointment (being a Christmas-season Capricorn will do that to you) and hoop dreams gone bad. Mikey also guides Ellis through tragedies, like losing his teenage cousin in a mistaken-target drive-by and the shame and fear of being pulled over by cops almost a dozen times the year he got his driver&’s license.As his imaginary friend morphs into adult consciousness, Ellis charts an unforgettable story of looking inward to solve to some of life&’s biggest (and smallest) challenges, told in the roast-you-with-love voice of your closest homey.
Did I Ever Tell You?: The most moving memoir of 2024
by Genevieve Kingston'Compelling and heartbreaking' Ann NapolitanoA deeply moving memoir of a young daughter, her dying mother - and the trail of letters and gifts she left behind.'Her messages met me like guideposts in a dark forest; if her words couldn't point the way, at least they offered the comfort of knowing someone had been there before'Ten days before Gwen Kingston turned twelve, her beloved mother - with whom she shared a birthday - died. She left behind two chests - one for Gwen and one for her brother - filled with lovingly wrapped presents and letters marking the milestones she would miss: driver's licences, graduations and every one of their birthdays until the age of thirty. Each gift a chance to reach back into the past and, for the briefest moment, hear her voice again.Over the last twenty years, the chest of treasures has travelled with Gwen across a continent, from state to state and apartment to apartment, growing lighter with each passing birthday. And now, just three gifts remain . . .In this beautiful and heart-rending memoir, Gwen describes growing up in the shadow of loss, guided by what her mother left behind. Woven in is her mother's own story, and that of their whole family - tragedies foreseen and unforeseen, paths taken and not taken. It's about a mother's love for her daughter, but more than that, it is a story of marriage, family, inheritance and everything that shapes a life.
Did I Ever Tell You?: The most moving memoir of 2024
by Genevieve Kingston'Compelling and heartbreaking' Ann NapolitanoA deeply moving memoir of a young daughter, her dying mother - and the trail of letters and gifts she left behind.'Her messages met me like guideposts in a dark forest; if her words couldn't point the way, at least they offered the comfort of knowing someone had been there before'Ten days before Gwen Kingston turned twelve, her beloved mother - with whom she shared a birthday - died. She left behind two chests - one for Gwen and one for her brother - filled with lovingly wrapped presents and letters marking the milestones she would miss: driver's licences, graduations and every one of their birthdays until the age of thirty. Each gift a chance to reach back into the past and, for the briefest moment, hear her voice again.Over the last twenty years, the chest of treasures has travelled with Gwen across a continent, from state to state and apartment to apartment, growing lighter with each passing birthday. And now, just three gifts remain . . .In this beautiful and heart-rending memoir, Gwen describes growing up in the shadow of loss, guided by what her mother left behind. Woven in is her mother's own story, and that of their whole family - tragedies foreseen and unforeseen, paths taken and not taken. It's about a mother's love for her daughter, but more than that, it is a story of marriage, family, inheritance and everything that shapes a life.
Did I Ever Tell You?: A Memoir
by Genevieve KingstonNew York Times Editors&’ Choice THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY, LIFE-AFFIRMING MEMOIR YOU WILL EVER READ ABOUT THE POWER OF LOVE.Did I Ever Tell You? reads like a novel but is an unforgettable true story. Genevieve (Gwen) Kingston was just eleven years old when her mother passed away, leaving behind a chest filled with gifts and letters to celebrate the milestones of Gwen&’s life and each of her birthdays until age thirty. When Did I Ever Tell You? opens, just three packages remain: engagement, marriage, and first baby. Tracing Gwen&’s coming-of-age, the book reveals a treasure hunt, with each gift and letter unveiling more about her mother, her family, and—ultimately—herself. Like Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner and The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, Did I Ever Tell You? is a riveting book filled with unexpected twists and powerful life lessons. Through her mother&’s fierce and courageous love, Gwen was granted the tools not only to move through grief but to cherish life. For as her mother says in one of her letters: &“love is stronger than death.&”
Did Lincoln Own Slaves?: And Other Frequently Asked Questions about Abraham Lincoln
by Gerald J. ProkopowiczOver the course of nine years as scholar-in-residence at the Lincoln Museum, Gerald J. Prokopowicz answered thousands of questions about Abraham Lincoln. Reporters, researchers, students, and especially the 50,000 visitors who come to the museum every year all want to know about the nation's most famous president. Although there have been more books written about Lincoln than any other American, there has never been a single book that clearly answers the most important, most unusual, most provocative, and most frequently asked questions. Until now. Did Lincoln Own Slaves? And Other Frequently Asked Questions About Abraham Lincolndraws on the questions that people actually ask. Some are personal: Did Lincoln keep an pets? Some are inspired by recent reinterpretations of Lincoln's actions: Was Lincoln a racist? Some are questions that previous generations of historians considered inappropriate: Was Lincoln gay? Whether drawn from today's headlines (Did Lincoln's presidential actions violate the Constitution?) or from today's tabloids (Did doctors really raise Lincoln from the dead?), the questions inDid Lincoln Own Slaves?illuminate what people really want to know about the past. Prokopowicz has organized the questions along the time line of Lincoln's life to give us a portrait of the sixteenth president unlike any we have had before. His authoritative, often surprising responses illuminate facets of Lincoln's life, work, and legacy about which people remain endlessly curious.
Did Lincoln Own Slaves?
by Gerald J. ProkopowiczIn the bicentennial year of Lincoln's birth, here is the one indispensable book that provides all you need to know about our most revered president in a lively and memorable question-and-answer format.You will learn whether Lincoln could dunk a basketball or tell a joke. Was he the great emancipator or a racist? If he were alive today, could he get elected? Did he die rich? Did scientists raise Lincoln from the dead? From the seemingly lighthearted to the most serious Gerald Prokopowicz tackles each question with balance and authority, and weaves a complete, satisfying biography that will engage young and old, scholars and armchair historians alike.From the Trade Paperback edition.tion?) or from today's tabloids (Did doctors really raise Lincoln from the dead?), the questions in Did Lincoln Own Slaves? illuminate what people really want to know about the past.Prokopowicz has organized the questions along the time line of Lincoln's life to give us a portrait of the sixteenth president unlike any we have had before. His authoritative, often surprising responses illuminate facets of Lincoln's life, work, and legacy about which people remain endlessly curious.From the Hardcover edition.
Did Muhammad Exist?
by Robert SpencerAre jihadists dying for a fiction? Everything you thought you knew about Islam is about to change.Did Muhammad exist?It is a question that few have thought--or dared--to ask. Virtually everyone, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, takes for granted that the prophet of Islam lived and led in seventh-century Arabia.But this widely accepted story begins to crumble on close examination, as Robert Spencer shows in his eye-opening new book.In his blockbuster bestseller The Truth about Muhammad, Spencer revealed the shocking contents of the earliest Islamic biographical material about the prophet of Islam. Now, in Did Muhammad Exist?, he uncovers that material's surprisingly shaky historical foundations. Spencer meticulously examines historical records, archaeological findings, and pioneering new scholarship to reconstruct what we can know about Muhammad, the Qur'an, and the early days of Islam. The evidence he presents challenges the most fundamental assumptions about Islam's origins.Did Muhammad Exist? reveals:*How the earliest biographical material about Muhammad dates from at least 125 years after his reported death*How six decades passed before the Arabian conquerors--or the people they conquered--even mentioned Muhammad, the Qur'an, or Islam*The startling evidence that the Qur'an was constructed from existing materials--including pre-Islamic Christian texts*How even Muslim scholars acknowledge that countless reports of Muhammad's deeds were fabricated*Why a famous mosque inscription may refer not to Muhammad but, astonishingly, to Jesus*How the oldest records referring to a man named Muhammad bear little resemblance to the now-standard Islamic account of the life of the prophet*The many indications that Arabian leaders fashioned Islam for political reasonsFar from an anti-Islamic polemic, Did Muhammad Exist? is a sober but unflinching look at the origins of one of the world's major religions. While Judaism and Christianity have been subjected to searching historical criticism for more than two centuries, Islam has never received the same treatment on any significant scale.The real story of Muhammad and early Islam has long remained in the shadows. Robert Spencer brings it into the light at long last.