This book tells about the difficult turns, the winding path of the Arabs for almost eight hundred years. The author's focus is on the heyday of Arab-Muslim culture, which came to the reign of the Abbasids, during which the process of Arabization of Syria, Iraq, a significant part of Egypt and the very concept of "Arabs" acquired a new content. Having reworked the heritage of the peoples of the Mediterranean and the Ancient East, the Arabs not only assimilated many of their achievements, but also introduced them to Western Europe. The Abbasid caliphate rivaled Byzantium, successfully opposed the crusaders, but could not resist the Mongols, who in 1258 destroyed its capital Baghdad. After this, the Abbasids, having lost power, but retaining the title, remained caliphs under the Cairo sultans until the middle of the 16th century, when the Ottoman Empire finally established power in the Near and Middle East.