Having examined a number of works written during the period, and studied the social environment in which they were produced, Hanna (Arabic studies, American U. of Cairo) discovered a category of people that is not generally recognized by historians: people who were educated without necessarily being scholarly, and who may have been trained in religious institutions but had a realist rather than idealist view of the world. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)