Pre-Islamic Arabia

Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the coming of Islam by Robert Hoyland. This book gives a very good overview of the history of the Arabian Peninsula prior to the Prophet and the rise of Islam, a time period and geographical area too often neglected. I highly recommend this book, along with much of Hoyland’s work on Early Islamic history. (http://amzn.to/2yY5jGi) Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans by Jane Taylor: Sumptuously illustrated, deeply researched, and an extremely good introduction to a major Arabic-speaking society of the ancient world. (http://amzn.to/2ycaJhLs)