BBC interview on the early`Abbasid Caliphate

I'm less thrilled by this interview than I was with the one below, even though it is the same people, some of the best scholars in the business. In particular, applying the word "revolution" to the success of the `Abbasid da`wa has always seemed to me overblown. Much changed, yes, but the principal transformations took place on the level of the ruling elite and how they presented themselves. Still worth a listen though, once you are sick of spring break and can't go another minute without some more Islamic history.