Heinz HalmHeinz Halm, of the University of Tübingen, is one of the world's leading scholars on the Middle East and especially on Shi'ism. His books, which have been translated into numerous languages, include The Empire of the Mahdi: The Rise of the Fatimids, he Arabs: A Short History, and the expanded edition of the latter, The Arabs: A Short History with Documents (both available from Markus Wiener). Professor Halm is the editor of Die Welt des Orients, and his shorter studies have appeared in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, Encyclopædia Iranica, and numerous learned journals. Read More Read Less