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 Osama bin Ladin represents and why his murderous message resonates so
widely in the Islamic world.
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