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You are here: ICR : Events : Lectures : Autumn 2008Speaker: Barnaby Rogerson
18 October
The two characters most dear to the Prophet Muhammad, his young wife Aisha and his young cousin-son-in-law Ali were also rivals. In this introductory talk, Barnaby Rogerson takes us through the stories of their extraordinary lives, both before and after the death of the Prophet. The accidents of their personal rivalry can be seen to be the first crack that would later explode into the Sunni and Shia schism, or more profitably as exemplars of two different but equally valid traditions within Islam.
BARNABY ROGERSON has written half a dozen guidebooks, a history of North Africa (Windrush, 1998), a biography of the Prophet Muhammad (Little, Brown, 2003), an account of the early Caliphate, The Heirs of the Prophet Muhammad. His most recent work, The Last Crusaders, will be published this summer.
He was conceived on a yacht and born in Dunfermline, Scotland. Travel was a vital aspect of a childhood in the wake of his father's career in the Royal Navy. A degree in Medieval History at St Andrew's University proved to be adequate preparation for work as, among other things, a barman, tutor for a child star in a film shot on a Greek island, a pony boy in the Highlands… A chance encounter in the Outer Hebrides led to his first commission to write a guidebook to Morocco (now in its 5th edition) and this was followed by several others. From researching guide books came the opportunity to work as a Lecturer on history tours and to commissions as a freelance travel-writer. Articles and reviews have appeared in the TLS, Vanity Fair, Conde Nast Traveller and many more. Pursuing this peripatetic lifestyle gradually foundered on the rival attractions of two daughters. With his partner, Rose Baring, he now runs Eland Publishing which specializes in keeping the classics of travel literature in print. (See www.travelbooks.co.uk)
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