The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror (Hardcover)

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Review
This has now just slipped off the Top Ten of the SUNDAY TIMES bestseller list which it has been on for a number of weeks. It was also featured in THE DAILY TELEGRAPH'S Books of the Moment on 26 April. Reviews not surprisingly havebeen excellent and they're still coming in: 'Lewis is brief and authoritative.'Michael Binyon, THE TIMES 'Readers who have been saturated with televisioncoverage and newspaper articles since 9/11 will find much to enlighten them in this book. Lewis writes clearly and elegantly, and his style is refreshingly free from academic jargon'Malise Ruthen, THE SUNDAY TIMES 'Bernard Lewis is not only the most eminent of living Arabists; he is also by far the most interesting.His latest book began life as a long essay for the New Yorker in November 2001, soon after the Twin Towers were struck; the rest of the text is new. The author's characteristic virtues are all very much in evidence: concision, readability, dry wit and devastating logic. This is vintage Bernard Lewis: he improves with age.'Daniel Johnson,THE DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Bernard Lewis has an authority all his own. In his eighties now, he has devoted a lifetime to the study of all aspects of Islam.He is the best available guide to the fraught and mostly unequal relationships which have developed over such a long time between Muslims and non-Muslims, and which so bedevil the present. Humanist in outlook and an exceptional linguist, Lewis is, on top of everything else, a graceful writer."David Pryce-Jones, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'Lucid and stylish'THE ECONOMIST 'Bernard Lewis shows himself again to be a master of his material, a graceful essayist and a shrewd analyst of the complexities of Middle Eastern politics and religion.'Bill McSweeney, THE IRISH TIMES 'He delivershis argument in clear prose which will entertain and fascinate the non-expert.'THE IRISH EXAMINER We have reviews still to come in THE FINANCIAL TIMES, THE OBSERVER and THE SPECTATOR.

Product Description
President Bush has made it clear that we are engaged in a war against terrorism. But for Usama bin Laden and his followers this is religious war, a war for Islam against infidels, especially the United States, the greatest power in the world of the infidels. In this book Bernard Lewis shows us where the anger and frustration have come from, and the extent to which almost the entire Muslim world is affected by poverty and tyranny. He looks at the influence of extreme Wahhabist doctrines in the Saudi kingdom, where custodianship of Islam's holy places and the revenues of oil have given world-wide impact to what would otherwise have been an extremist fringe in a marginal country. He looks at American double standards, which have long caused Muslim anger. He tells us what the real meaning is of Islamic fundamentalism', jihad' and fatwa', and why the peoples of the Middle East are conscious of history in a way that most Americans find difficult to understand.

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First Sentence
It is difficult to generalize about Islam. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover

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9 Reviews 5 star:  (4) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:  (2) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review 3.7 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   20 of 24 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Spotlight on the mindset behind Islamic extremism, 30 April 2003 By  Mr Steven A Harris (England) - See all my reviews Many of the most intractible flashpoints in the world today arise where the Islamic and Judeo-Christian worlds clash. The list of recent past includes the invasion of Iraq, the Russian and then American-led invasions of Afghanistan, the clash in Israel and 9/11. One particular problem shared by the US and its allies is that of Islamic extremism. This slim, elegantly written volume (127 pages) distils the events which have created the mindset of Islamic extremists today. Themes include recent poverty and tyranny in Muslim countries, Islamic underperformance against European based cultures, the requirement of Muslims to convert non Muslims, and the way history has shaped the attitudes of Muslim extremists. The quite recent emergence of extremism with global reach is traced. Themes are covered with a light but deft touch and provide a marvellous insight into what has led to the hatred felt by many Muslims for the West and in particular the "Great Satan." This is a very good book about an issue all too prevalent in world affairs. It distils years of study by the author and presents a complex subject with great clarity. While easy answers are not obvious, this book provides the next best thing, which is an understanding of the issues. I for one will be reading other books by Bernard Lewis. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   31 of 41 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended, 30 Mar 2004 By A Customer This review is from: The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror (Paperback) As someone with some familiarity with the Middle East and Islam and keen to know more, this book was perfect. Its style was more journalistic than academic and information and argument were set out clearly and concisely. Bernard Lewis manages to cover a lot of ground in this short book (only about 140 pages). I found the book so interesting that I managed to read it in a day. Perhaps some of the editing was not perfect and often there is a tendency to repeat points or jump around a bit logically, although the indexing and bibliography are good. Overall, I enjoyed the book for its balance, objectivity, engaging style and excellent content. I definitely feel much more enlightened and I am hoping to read more of Bernard Lewis's writings on the Middle East. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   10 of 13 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Reading, 9 Jul 2003 By  "freakmode" - See all my reviews Bernard Lewis' slight volume explains the reasons and causes behind the current climate of terrorism and Islamic radicalism. He explains in detail the theory behind Al Qaeda leader Usama Bin Laden's call for jihad, the true nature of the religion of Islam and most interestingly the reason behind many Muslims anti-Americansm and anti- Western thinking.It also discusses the role of the USSR, and sheds insight into how and why American foreign policy came to be the shambles it is today. A fair and unbiased approach, this book is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the true causes of terrorism, distrust and misconceptions associated with Islam and provides a good alternative to the overload of writings blaming Islamic radicalism on anti-semitic and anti-zionist philosophy. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 9 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and important book The focus of this book is the question, `Why is so much of Islam seemingly antagonistic with the West? Read more Published 5 months ago by Mr. P. G. Mccarthy 2.0 out of 5 stars Not strong enough I have read several boooks about Islam or the Middle East by Bernard Lewis. Far from being anti-Islamic, Mr Lewis, who undoubtedly knows a great deal about the Middle East, pulls... Read more Published 8 months ago by PhilosopherKing 4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Got this book to try and get a better understanding of Islam and the history of the religion, found the book to be quite enlightening and didn`t get too much into heavy issues but... Read more Published on 19 Mar 2005 2.0 out of 5 stars Lewis does it again Once again Lewis does it - generalise about westeners, muslims etc. Lewis is problematic, in this book too, since he has a tendency to view the Middle East through culturalist... Read more Published on 14 Mar 2005 by cha2storm 1.0 out of 5 stars An additional important book on the subject It was an interesting book but seemed slanted towards one side of the issue. It seems easy to blame the west for what goes on in the mideast . Read more Published on 14 Jul 2003 by Robert 5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Reading Bernard Lewis' slight volume explains the reasons and causes behind the current climate of terrorism and Islamic radicalism. Read more Published on 9 Jul 2003 by freakmode Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 9 customer reviews...

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