<DIV><p>The first Lakhmids are thought to have emigrated from Yemen in the second century. Establishing their empire across what is now Iraq and Syria, and bordering the lands of the Persians and the Ottomans, the Lakhmids were a major force among the great pre-Islamic Arab peoples.</p><p>In <I>The Lakhmids of Hira</I>, Yasmine Zahran brings her lively yet informed style to bear on a hitherto unjustly neglected dynasty of Arabia's history. Introduced by Robert Hoyland, PhD, with a chronology and a detailed bibliography, <I>The Lakhmids of Hira</I> is a required addition to the shelves of any Arabist or Middle East historian.</p><BR></DIV>