Was the Abbasid Caliphate really the Golden Age of Islam? If so, it had nothing to do with avoiding the political mistakes of previous caliphates. The Abbasids were just as Fratricidal and violent as their Umayyad predecessors. The only difference is that they also made a bunch of stuff that people liked, so all the stabby stuff gets ignored.

Sources and Affiliate Links

Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, by W. Montgomery Watt https://amzn.to/2I2MnOe

A History of the Arab Peoples, by Albert Hourani https://amzn.to/2HQivpc

God's Crucible, by David Levering Lewis https://amzn.to/2WzPyB0

Destiny Disrupted, by Tamim Ansary https://amzn.to/2WG4Wfn

The Middle East, by Bernard Lewis https://amzn.to/2HQm0fc