What Went Wrong? The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East (Paperback)
| Author: Bernard Lewis |
| Format: | Paperback | |||
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Product Details:
| A leading authority on Near Eastern Studies explores the decline of Islamic power in the Middle East and traces the impact of these events on the modern era. Reprint. *Author: Lewis, Bernard *Subtitle: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East *Publication Date: 2003/01/01 *Number of Pages: 208 *Binding Type: Paperback *Language: English *Depth: 0.50 *Width: 5.50 *Height: 8.00 |
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From the Publisher:
For centuries, the world of Islam was in the forefront of human achievement -- the foremost military and economic power in the world, the leader in the arts and sciences of civilization. Christian Europe was seen as an outer darkness of barbarism and unbelief from which there was nothing to learn or to fear. And then everything changed. The West won victory after victory, first on the battlefield and then in the marketplace. In this elegantly written volume, Bernard Lewis, a renowned authority an Islamic affairs, examines the anguished reaction of the Islamic world as it tried to make sense of how it had been overtaken, overshadowed, and dominated by the West. In a fascinating portrait of a culture in turmoil, Lewis shows how the Middle East turned its attention to understanding European weaponry, industry, government, education, and culture. He also describes how some Middle Easterners fastened blame on a series of scapegoats, while others asked not "Who did this to us?" but rather "Where did we go wrong?" With a new Afterword that addresses September 11 and its aftermath, What Went Wrong? is an urgent, accessible book that no one who is concerned with contemporary affairs will want to miss. For centuries, the world of Islam was in the forefront of human achievement -- the foremost military and economic power in the world, the leader in the arts and sciences of civilization. Christian Europe was seen as an outer darkness of barbarism and unbelief from which there was nothing to learn or to fear. And then everything changed. The West won victory after victory, first on the battlefield and then in the marketplace. In this elegantly written volume, Bernard Lewis, a renowned authority an Islamic affairs, examines the anguished reaction of the Islamic world as it tried to make sense of how it had been overtaken, overshadowed, and dominated by the West. In a fascinating portrait of a culture in turmoil, Lewis shows how the Middle East turned its attention to understanding European weaponry, industry, government, education, and culture. He also describes how some Middle Easterners fastened blame on a series of scapegoats, while others asked not "Who did this to us?" but rather "Where did we go wrong?" With a new Afterword that addresses September 11 and its aftermath, What Went Wrong? is an urgent, accessible book that no one who is concerned with contemporary affairs will want to miss. |
One of the foremost scholars of Middle East history examines how the once dominant Islamic world--with its extraordinary contributions to civilization--yielded, in a few centuries, to a more dominant Europe. Lewis considers the historical and other factors that contributed to the rise of Europe and its effects on the Islamic world.
Praise
"Beautifully written, wise, and full of revealing details from a lifetime's learning." - Timothy Garton Ash 12/06/2002
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