First published in 1962 and substantially extended for its second edition in 1985, this survey is widely recognised as the standard general account in English. This volume is a re-issue in the new Islamic Surveys format. Watt takes the reader through the development of philosophy and theology in Islam from the Umayyad period to modern Islamic philosophy. He shows how medieval Islam assimilated Greek thought, particularly Aristotelian logic, in its early stages, and traces the development of Islamic philosophy to the early middle ages. He then examines the elaboration of Shi'ism and the supposed stagnation of Islamic thought from the 15th to the 19th century.