A history of the arab peoples is a book written by the british born lebanese historian albert hourani the book presents the history of the arabs from the advent of islam although some pre islamic history is included to the late 20th century. Upon its publication in 1991 albert houranis masterwork was hailed as the definitive story of arab civilization and became both a bestseller and an instant classicin a panoramic view encompassing twelve centuries of arab history and culture hourani brilliantly illuminated the people and events that have fundamentally shaped the arab world. The history of the arabs begins in the mid ninth century bc which is the earliest known attestation of the old arabic language the arabs appear to have been under the vassalage of the neo babylonian empire they went from the arabian peninsula to mauritania arab tribes most notably the ghassanids and lakhmids begin to appear in the southern syrian desert from the mid third century ad . History of fhe arab peoples covers the fourteen hundred years between 600 1980 and the afterword brings that up to 2011 the large scope and many areas of interest makes any specific chapter quite brief which keeps it interesting useful as an introduction not the least due to the rich list of references at the end