ANHOW Review of Books: <I>The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror</I> by Bernard Lewis -- Adilbrand Noblesword's Hall of Warriors

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Date Posted: 17:03:30 06/30/04 Wed
Author: Mt. Healthy Mountaineer - very enthused by this book
Subject:

ANHOW Review of Books: The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror by Bernard Lewis

Genre: Non-fiction
Published: 2003 by Random House

Synopsis:

The title, Crisis of Islam has a double-meaning - the Crisis that Islam presents to the West and, more importantly, the Crisis that Wahabism and the terrorists present to Islam itself.

The author is a Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University who has written over 20 books about the Middle East. This book is definitely a keeper. Some of you may remember a conversation w/Stu a while back in which I said that I didn't even know for sure why Osama Bin-Laden was attacking the West. Well, this short book (169 pages) answers that question. It also adresses Wahabism and the misinterpreted inspiration from the Middle Ages for the current crop of suicide bombers. It dispels a few myths, such as the present-day belief that the Crusades were a source of great consternation to the Muslims of the time (they hardly noticed, according to the historical documents - they were too busy trying to defend their Spanish territory and attacking the Byzantines to worry about Palestine).

My review:

Excellent! Well-written, easy to understand yet not simplistic. It does require a basic knowledge of Islam and of the interaction with Islam and the West - especially of the Crusades and the Colonial period. Knowledge of post world War II activities in the Middle East would be helpful as well. Some may want to get hold of a high school world history textbook to review a bit if they are unsure.

I stayed up late reading this book and shot through it in about two days, which for me is pretty quick. (I'm not the world's quickest reader, but I am a dogged one).

I give this book an A+++++. Thanks to my brother-in-law Matt for giving me the gift card that I used to buy this book!

Related links:

Amazon.com's page with more than 80 reviews. Lots of opinions, including some from people who do not understand the double meaning of the title. Amazon link

Also, a link to an article of his in Atlantic Monthly from 1990: Atlantic Monthy link #1

Here's another from a 2002 article: Atlantic Monthly link #2

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