Edited by three well-known senior scholars of Islamic art and architecture--Renata Holod, Attilio Petruccioli, and André Raymond--this landmark two-volume work presents 46 chapters on individual Islamic cities throughout history. The result is a much-needed, substantial overview of Islamic cities that goes far to fill a gap in the literature of architectural and urban history, but also to round out Western knowledge to embrace the rich civilizations of often neighboring Islamic countries. The chapters are divided into broad themes, with five initial chapters on general topics, including spatial organization, historiography, laws, and early Islamic cities founded either on previous sites or new ones. A section of case studies follows, with Aleppo, Fez, Agra, and Sana'a among the cities profiled. The unifying theme of city functions is the subject of 10 chapters, which discuss the uses and impact of such topics as gender, economy, water, and agriculture. The concluding section is on modern and contemporary cities, with individual chapters on Cairo, Dubai, Casablanca, Beirut, and Algiers, and analysis of issues of globalization and modernization. The plates for each chapter are in b&w and are grouped together at the end of Volume Two. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)