On the Spot: Nile Green
‘Why am I a historian of global Islam? I try to understand how different cultures do, and don’t, understand each other.’
Why are you a historian of global Islam?
I try to understand how different cultures do, and don’t, understand each other.
What’s the most important lesson history has taught you?
Events don’t conform to ideology.
Which history book has had the greatest influence on you?
Umberto Eco’s The Search for the Perfect Language.
What book in your field should everyone read?
H.K. Sherwani’s two-volume History of Medieval Deccan. A whole epoch of Asian history that remains all but unknown.
Which moment would you most like to go back to?
The Ottoman Mediterranean. I could explore so many cultures and peoples, across lands with an unrivalled combination of artistic and natural beauty.
Which historian has had the greatest influence on you?
Miguel Asín Palacios (1871-1944), the Catholic priest and Arabist who uncovered the deep interactions of European Islam and Christianity.
Which person in history would you most like to have met?
Imam Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad.
How many languages do you have?
Nine.
What historical topic have you changed your mind on?
That cross-cultural commerce leads to cross-cultural understanding.
What’s the most exciting field in history today?
The belated study of the many African languages written using the Arabic script.
What is the most common misconception about your field?
That most Muslims live in the Middle East.
Who is the most underrated person in history…
Gawhar Shad: princess, art patron, and pilgrim during Afghanistan’s Timurid Renaissance.
… and the most overrated?
In academic history at least, Michel Foucault.
Is there an important historical text you have not read?
Tocqueville’s Democracy in America.
What’s your favourite archive?
The old Indian libraries of Nairobi in Kenya: dusty shelves filled with abandoned languages.
What’s the best museum?
The British Museum.
What technology has changed the world the most?
Literacy.
Recommend us a historical novel...
Qurratulain Hyder’s River of Fire.
... and a historical drama?
Martin Scorsese’s Silence.
You can solve one historical mystery. What is it?
The unfathomable identity of al-Khidr, the mystery man of Islam who reappears throughout time.
Nile Green holds the Ibn Khaldun Endowed Chair in World History at UCLA. His latest book is Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah (W.W. Norton, 2024).
