Month: February 2023

I’m very happy to acknowledge the generous support of the Barakat Trust for my project with leading global video game publisher Ubisoft, to make Islamic art and history accessible to a wide public audience in the UK and around the globe.

You can read the full announcement here.

I’m very happy to share the new title and cover design of my book, forthcoming from Oxford University Press.

The original title was A Caliphal Daedalus, which I love. It will probably always be A Caliphal Daedalus in my own mind, but in the end I decided to choose a less obscure title, one that I hope will welcome people in and spark their curiosity to know more.

I love the new title as well though, and I think it makes a nice pairing with the cover image. If you’re curious, that’s not Ibn Firnas but rather Daedalus, as imagined by Andrea Pisano in the 14th c. It once decorated the Campanile in Florence. So Daedalus hasn’t been lost entirely…

Many thanks to my editors, Sarah Humphreville and Chelsea Hogue, who suggested both the new title and the image! And thank you also to my colleagues, friends, Digital Lab team and loved ones who served as a focus group for this important decision.