The second edition of "Essays on the History of Islamic Civilization" was presented at the RIA Novosti press center.

This collective monograph in 2 volumes, published by the Russian Political Encyclopedia publishing House (ROSSPEN) in 2008, is a continuation of many years of complex work under the general supervision of Yuri Mikhailovich Kobishchanov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Chief Researcher at the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences. A large international team of representatives from seven countries (Russia, Great Britain, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Estonia and Malaysia) and ten cities - from London to Dushanbe, from Tallinn to Konya in Turkey, and of course from Moscow, Kazan and Ufa - worked on the creation of this unique book for more than 15 years. There are about 30 authors in total (historians-orientalists, lawyers, philologists, art historians, musicologists, etc.), almost all are doctors and candidates of sciences, most of them are well - known specialists in their fields of science. In terms of the level and breadth of coverage of the topic, there are no analogues of such work either in Russia or in other countries.

This two-volume publication has received a certain resonance in the scientific world. Most recently, it was awarded two high awards-a UNESCO diploma in the category " Best publication that makes a significant contribution to the dialogue of cultures "and a diploma of the Association of Book Publishers of Russia as a laureate of the 2008 contest"Best Books of the Year". One of the goals of this project is to introduce Russians, including Muslims and Christians, to the history of the great Islamic civilization, its influence on Northern Eurasia - Russia (especially the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia and the Caucasus) and other regions of the world. Each of the two volumes contains a group of chapters devoted to architecture and art, with illustrations.

The collective monograph presents an interesting political and cultural history of Islamic civilization throughout the Middle Ages and in three parts of the world - from the Atlantic coast to Indonesia and China, and from Kazan and Tyumen to Mozambique and Madagascar. Attention chi-

Readers are offered a new vision of the interesting, rich history and original medieval culture, as well as the scientific thought of Muslims. Special attention is paid to the peoples of the center and south of present-day Russia, its neighboring states,as well as Asian, African and tropical island countries.

According to Y. Kobishchanov, the author of almost half of the text, this publication is intended not only for teachers to give lectures on the history of civilizations and disciplines related to the Islamic world, but also for students and postgraduates. It will also be no less fascinating and informative for any intelligent reader who is interested in this problem. Whether he is a Muslim or not.

The obvious merit of Y. Kobishchanov is that he managed to mobilize and attract scientists of different faiths and nationalities to work. Most of the authors are elderly people. Along with them, a number of talented young employees worked on the project, and on an absolutely selfless basis. The fact is that only publishing grants were allocated for the implementation of this project. No research grants were obtained.

The book uses original sources in a wide variety of languages - ancient Ethiopian, languages of medieval Indonesia, Turkic languages, languages of India and, of course, Arabic and Farsi. Not all the authors of this work were equally fluent in Russian. Some did not speak it at all, and their chapters were translated into Russian.

Director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Lomonosov Moscow State University M. Meyer delivered a speech at the presentation: "Islam and the traditions of Islamic culture in a broad sense have been surprisingly able to synthesize with local cultures, local historical traditions. Islamic civilization is all that makes up the material and spiritual life of the modern Islamic world, which is shown in the book by the authors from very different positions. You can see how differently they interpret the same topic, which today attracts so much attention of specialists of various profiles. This is a great creative success. It is no coincidence that the book has received such high awards."

As A. Savateev, Scientific Secretary of the RAS Scientific Council on Africa, noted, "Essays" have enormous political and scientific significance: "The book is necessary primarily for Russian society, which is especially important in connection with well-known events. For us, political Islamism has come to the fore with its claims to the creation of Islamic states, in particular in the Caucasus. Islamic civilization is a part of the Russian socio-cultural world. In the 19th century, it was integrated into the political and cultural life of Russian society. Representatives of Islamic countries have served Russia faithfully and faithfully, and this book, in particular, gives some indication of this."

According to A. Savateev," Essays " are equally necessary for Muslims themselves, since they take away a number of arguments from the Islamist part of those Muslims who claim to create Islamic states. This scientific work provides an opportunity to seize the initiative from those who promote extremist projects. The book shows that Islamic civilization is not only the property of the Arab world. It clearly demonstrates that Islam penetrates far beyond the epicenters of Islam and now Islam is the predominant religion for residents of Tropical Africa and regions of Southeast Asia.

"The print run is small - only 1,000 copies. We hope that this first edition will become a pilot, and in the foreseeable future we will reprint this book so that it will become available to a wide range of interested people," says A. Sorokin, Ph. D. in History, winner of the State Prize of the Russian Federation in Science and Technology, General Director of the ROSSPEN publishing house.

It is noteworthy that this fundamental work is published in Russia, whose rich and ancient history is closely intertwined with a civilization whose birth is due to the emergence of a new and by far the youngest religion - Islam. One can assess the mutual influence and interpenetration of civilizations and religions in different ways, but one cannot ignore the obvious trends - Islam, unlike Christianity and Buddhism, in the modern world shows a stable significant increase in its adherents in various countries and continents. Therefore, it is quite obvious how important the importance of this extremely relevant topic is for Russia and the whole world as a whole.

This book, being a reliable and informative source of information on the history of the Islamic world and its civilization, can help both Muslims and non-Muslims alike to eliminate the colossal ignorance surrounding everything related to Islam through education. Only by educating society can mutual understanding be achieved between people of different religions, cultures, and nationalities.

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