{"product_id":"9780521147613","title":"Postal Systems in the Pre-Modern Islamic World (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization)","description":"\u003cp\u003eAdam Silverstein's book offers a fascinating account of the official methods of communication employed in the Near East from pre-Islamic times through the Mamluk period. Postal systems were set up by rulers in order to maintain control over vast tracts of land. These systems, invented centuries before steam-engines or cars, enabled the swift circulation of different commodities - from letters, people and horses to exotic fruits and ice. As the correspondence transported often included confidential reports from a ruler's provinces, such postal systems doubled as espionage-networks through which news reached the central authorities quickly enough to allow a timely reaction to events. The book sheds light not only on the role of communications technology in Islamic history, but also on how nomadic culture contributed to empire-building in the Near East. This is a long-awaited contribution to the history of pre-modern communications systems in the Near Eastern world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cambridge University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49722657833208,"sku":"00000_00000_00000_00000","price":92.04,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0789\/8208\/6904\/files\/9780521147613-1.jpg?v=1783598803","url":"https:\/\/kinokuniya.com.au\/products\/9780521147613","provider":"Books Kinokuniya Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}