A.C.S. Peacock is Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic History at the University of St Andrews, and holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge. His previous publications include The Great Seljuk Empire (2015) and Early Seljuq History (2010).

The Edinburgh History of the Islamic Empires
Series Editor: Ian Richard Netton
This major series covers the history of the Islamic world, from its origins in the 7th century to the fall of the last of the great Islamic empires, the Ottoman Empire, in the early 20th century. Combining scholarship, reliability and readability, books in the series reflect the fluctuating dynamics of change and present an overall unity to the history of the Empires.
'An elegantly and entertainingly written, painstakingly researched work that fills a glaring lacuna in the scholarly literature. Peacock's book is, quite simply, the first ever to cover the entire Seljuq period, and the only available comprehensive overview of this critical era. It will no doubt become a standard work in the field.'
Professor Deborah G. Tor, University of Notre Dame
The Great Seljuk Empire was the Turkish state which dominated the Middle East and Central Asia in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. This book surveys that period, which was one of exceptional importance, witnessing profound demographic, religious, political and social changes in the Islamic Middle East. The Turkish invasions played a role in provoking the Crusades, led to the collapse of Byzantine power in Anatolia and brought about the beginnings of Turkish settlement in what is now Turkey and Iran, permanently altering their ethnic and linguistic composition.
Key Features
The first book in a western language to offer an overview of this major Islamic empire
Provides a narrative history and a thematic analysis of the empire's institutions and aspects of life in the Seljuk world
Examines the political, administrative, military, religious, economic and social organization of the Great Seljuk Empire using a wide variety of historical and literary sources
Draws on the evidence of archaeology and material culture
Illustrated with images, maps, charts, family trees
Text boxes introduce key themes and institutions
A.C.S.Peacock is Lecturer in Middle Eastern History at St Andrews University. Previous publications include Early Seljuq History: a new interpretation (London, 2010) and as co-editor (with Sara Nur Yildiz) The Seljuks of Anatolia: Court and Society in the Medieval Middle East (London, 2013).

List of box texts; Illustrations and maps; Abbreviations; A note on transliteration, conventions and geographical terminology; Acknowledgements
Introduction; Chapter 1. The Rise of the Seljuk Empire: from the Eurasian Steppe to the Gates of Cairo, c. 965-1092; Chapter 2. Crisis, Consolidation and Collapse: the Great Seljuk Empire and the Sultanate of Iraq, 1092-1194; Chapter 3. Sovereignty, Legitimacy and the Contest with the Caliphate; Chapter 4. The Dargah: Courts and Court Life; Chapter 5. The Kuttab: Bureaucrats and Administration; Chapter 6. The 'Askar: The Seljuk military; Chapter 7. Religion and the Seljuk Empire; Chapter 8. The Economic and Social Organisation of the Seljuk Empire; Conclusion: The Seljuk Legacy; Appendices: Regnal Dates of Seljuk Sultans; 'Abbasid Caliphs, Khwarazmshahs and principal Atabegs; Genealogical chart of the Seljuk Sultans; Chronological Outline; Glossary; Bibliography.