R. Stephen Humphreys is an American historian specializing in the history of

Southwest Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenia ...

and

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

. He was the 'Abd al-Aziz al-Sa'ud Professor at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

and is now an emeritus professor at that institution. Humphreys received a PhD from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1969. Humphreys' ''Between Memory and Desire: The Middle East in a Troubled Age'' has been widely reviewed and cited as a good introductory work on the region. He has also written a history of the

Ayyubids The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish ori ...

, ''From Saladin to the Mongols'' (1977), and a biography of the first

Umayyad caliph The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member ...

Mu'awiya I Mu'awiya I (–April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and immediately after the four Rashid ...

, ''Mu'awiya ibn abi Sufyan: From Arabia to Empire'' (2006). A

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

was published in Humphreys' honor by the Darwin Press based on lectures given at a conference at the College of St. Benedict in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Citations

References

*Contributor listing, ''The Cambridge History of Egypt, Vol. 1, Islamic Egypt 640-1517'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Humphreys, R. Stephen Living people 20th-century births Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers University of Michigan alumni University of California, Santa Barbara faculty American male non-fiction writers