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Title details for The Crisis of Islam by Bernard Lewis - Available

The Crisis of Islam

Holy War and Unholy Terror

by Bernard Lewis
Bernard Lewis
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
In his first book since What Went Wrong? Bernard Lewis examines the historical roots of the resentments that dominate the Islamic world today and that are increasingly being expressed in acts of terrorism. He looks at the theological origins of political Islam and takes us through the rise of militant Islam in Iran, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, examining the impact of radical Wahhabi proselytizing, and Saudi oil money, on the rest of the Islamic world.
The Crisis of Islam ranges widely through thirteen centuries of history, but in particular it charts the key events of the twentieth century leading up to the violent confrontations of today: the creation of the state of Israel, the Cold War, the Iranian Revolution, the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan, the Gulf War, and the September 11th attacks on the United States.
While hostility toward the West has a long and varied history in the lands of Islam, its current concentration on America is new. So too is the cult of the suicide bomber. Brilliantly disentangling the crosscurrents of Middle Eastern history from the rhetoric of its manipulators, Bernard Lewis helps us understand the reasons for the increasingly dogmatic rejection of modernity by many in the Muslim world in favor of a return to a sacred past. Based on his George Polk Award–winning article for The New Yorker, The Crisis of Islam is essential reading for anyone who wants to know what Usama bin Ladin represents and why his murderous message resonates so widely in the Islamic world.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 25, 2003

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781415952986
      • File size: 136775 KB
      • Duration: 04:44:56

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      There are few more erudite or more understandable writers on the topic of Islam than Princeton historian Bernard Lewis. While not a professional narrator, he is clearly comfortable in the lecture hall or classroom. In addition to the program's brevity, the great thing about listening is being able to hit the rewind button to pause and consider. There's a wealth of information, and listeners will come away with an illuminating understanding of events leading up to 9/11. This should be mandatory listening for anyone who wants a more complete grasp of world events as they stand between the Middle East and the U.S. Crisis is perhaps a much overused word to be sure, but it is never so apt as now. D.G. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 1, 2003
      This lean, muscular volume, an expansion of Lewis's George Polk Award-winning New Yorker article, sheds much-needed light on the complicated and volatile Middle East. To locate the origins of anti-American sentiment, Islamic scholar Lewis maps the history of Muslim anxiety towards the West from the time of the Crusades through European imperialism, and explains how America's increased presence in the region since the Cold War has been construed as a renewed cry of imperialism. In Islam, politics and religion are inextricable, and followers possess an acute knowledge of their own history dating back to the Prophet Mohammed, a timeline Lewis revisits. By so doing, the bestselling author of What Went Wrong? is able to cogently investigate key issues, such as why the United States has been dubbed the "Great Satan" and Israel the "Little Satan," and how Muslim extremism has taken root and succeeded in bastardizing the fundamental Islamic tenets of peace. Lewis also covers the impact of the Iranian Revolution and American foreign policy towards it, Soviet influence in the region and the ramifications of modernization, making this clear, taut and timely primer a must-read for any concerned citizen.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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