REVIEWS:
'Karsh races the reader...through the whole history of Muslim power... I like Karsh's robust refusal to accept Muslim history as a sob story against us in the West. His narrative helps explain the rage and the sheer hopelessness of so much Muslim engagement with modern politics.' - Charles Moore, The Telegraph
'Anyone interested in the debate about the place of Islam in the modern world should read this book. ... Karsh offers a new approach. He rejects the condescending approach of the apologists and the hateful passion of the Islamophobes. ... What does Islam want? Karsh poses the question and answers it unambiguously...' - Amir Taheri, The Sunday Telegraph
'[This book] turns on its head conventional wisdom that the Arab world is a perpetual victim - whether of Western foreign policy, or of its own incompetence.' - Miriam Shaviv, Jewish Chronicle
'[Karsh] has produced an impeccable history of how the Muslim mainstream has behaved towards its neighbours...[including] masterpieces of concise historical writing... I could not recommend this magnificent effort of reportage and analysis more highly. It ought to be not only on our shelves, but also on our desks and bedside tables. Efraim Karsh, Professor of Meditteranean Studies at King's College London, is well on his way toward claiming the crown of a new generation of scholars of Islam and I wish him luck. We need him. In Muslim lands, his book ought to be translated into every local language and distributed free of charge. Alas, it will be banned.' - Hazhir Teimourian, Literary Review
'...you couldn't hope for a more up-to-date teacher than Efraim Karsh, who offers a new approach to the place of Islam in today's world, and a fresh look at the Crusades...' - The Sunday Tepegraph
'Beyond its historical merits, this latest work is a solid and studious refutation of the commonly held notion that the rise of Islamism is an historical reaction to European imperialism or that U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East led to the terrorist attacks in New York City on September 11, 2001.' - Evan Daniel, Democratiya
'This is clearly going to be a highly controversial book...the central phenomenon it describes - Islamic "imperialism" - needs to be acknowledged and confronted.' - Bernard Porter, Lobster 51
'A brisk, dense history of Islam for its origins to modern times...most persuasive...' - Jack Carrigan, Catholic Herald
'In this controversial, some might say inflammatory, book, Karsh argues that 9/11 had little to do with foriegn policy and everything to do with the fact that Islam is inherently violent and imperialist...a fascinating read...' -The Guardian
DESCRIPTION:
From the first Arab-Islamic Empire of the mid-seventh century to the Ottomans, the last great Muslim empire, the story of the Middle East has been the story of the rise and fall of universal empires and, no less important, of imperialist dreams. So argues Efraim Karsh in this highly provocative book. Rejecting the conventional Western interpretation of Middle Eastern history as an offshoot of global power politics, Karsh contends that the region's experience is the culmination of long-existing indigenous trends, passions, and patterns of behaviour, and that foremost among these is Islam's millenarian imperial tradition. The author explores the history of Islam's imperialism and the persistence of the Ottoman imperialist dream that outlasted World War I to haunt Islamic and Middle Eastern politics to the present day. September 11 can be seen as simply the latest expression of this dream, and such attacks have little to do with U.S. international behaviour or policy in the Middle East, says Karsh. The House of Islam's war for world mastery is traditional, indeed venerable, and it is a quest that is far from over.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY:
Efraim Karsh is professor and head of the Mediterranean Studies Programme, King's College, University of London. He has published extensively and often served as a consultant on Middle Eastern affairs, Soviet foreign policy and European neutrality. His books include Empires of the Sand: The Struggle for Mastery in the Middle East, 1789-1923 and Saddam Hussein: A Political Biography.
SUBJECT CLASSIFICATIONS:
Asian / Middle Eastern history
Islam
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Illustrations: maps
Number of Pages: 304
Dewey: 956
