Medieval Islamic historical writing outpaced all Christendom combined in bulk

Evidence

The first thing that strikes us, looking at the historical literature of the Islamic world, is its immense richness and variety, as contrasted even with other history-writing civilizations. It has been calculated that the historical lit­ erature of medieval Islam is far greater in bulk, just in Arabic, than the literatures of medieval eastern and western Christendom in Latin, Greek and all the ver­ naculars combined. Islam, from the very beginning, has attached enormous im­ portance to history. Indeed, in many parts of the world, reliable history begins with the advent of Islam. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1926

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to broader debates about Islamic civilization’s role in preserving knowledge — complements the library/preservation literature the reader has engaged.
• SHARE: A statistic worth sharing with anyone who works on historiography, Islamic studies, or medieval intellectual history — the bulk comparison is specific and striking.