Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 180 pages
• Published by: Brookings Institution Press May 28, 2004
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 081573283X
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0815732839
• Book Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Weighs: 8 ounces

From Publishers Weekly
While many in the Western media have depicted Islam with broad strokes to the point of caricature, Gregorian, the president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, reminds readers that it is unfair to generalize so wantonly about a religion that encompasses more than a billion people. This book is brief, but its scope is ambitious: Gregorian surveys 1,400 years of Islamic history, including such key modern events as the 1978 Iranian revolution and the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Naturally, some nuance is lost with this kind of dizzying breadth, but Gregorian competently presses home the point that Islam is a awesomely diverse religion that has changed considerably throughout its history. A final chapter explores the need for knowledge and understanding about Islam, which some have labeled "the green menace" that has replaced "the red menace" of the Cold War.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Review
"Gregorian writes with delightful clarity, an effective sense of irony, and a rich knowledge of the subject. He presents it as complex--unapologetically--but then delivers details with brisk simplicity." -- Michael Pakenham, The Baltimore Sun

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith (Hardcover) Islam: A Mosaic, Not A Monolith by Vartan Gregorian (President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York), is an informed and informative survey of the Islamic faith since its inception some 1,400 years ago. Examining Islam's tenets, institutions, changes, role in history, crucial questions that have caused strife among Muslim states, and a great deal more, Islam: A Mosaic, Not A Monolith is readily accessible to non-specialist general readers, yet thoughtful enough in its study and presentation of complicated issues of faith, politics, and culture to be of considerable value for scholars and dedicated students of Islamic Studies as well. In view of contemporary American efforts to combat the threat of international terrorism arising from fundamentalist Islamic extremists, Islam: A Mosaic, Not A Monolith should be present in the collections of every school and community library system in the country.