Islam (Universal History)

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 200 pages
• Published by: Weidenfeld & Nicolson History December 3, 2001
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1842125834
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1842125830
• Book Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 5 ounces

Book Description
In the public mind, Islam is a religion of extremes: it is the worlds fastest growing faith; more than three-quarters of the worlds refugees are Islamic; it has produced government by authoritarian monarchies in Saudi Arabia and ultra- republicans in Iran. Whether we are reading about civil war in Algeria or Afghanistan, the struggle for the soul of Turkey, or political turmoil in Pakistan or Malaysia, the Islamic context permeates all these situations. Yet who really understands the central tenets of this faith, or why so many people around the world have turned to ‘fundamentalism? Karen Armstrongs elegant and concise book traces how Islam grew from the other religions of the book, Judaism and Christianity; introduces us to the character of Muhammed; and demonstrates that for much of its history, the religion has been a force for enlightenment that promoted liberties for women and allowed the arts and sciences to flourish. Islam shows how this progressive legacy is today often set aside as the faith struggles to come to terms with the economic and political weakness of most of its believers and with the forces of modernity itself. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About The Author
Karen Armstrong spent seven years as a Roman Catholic nun, an experience she recollected in her two volumes of best-selling autobiography, Through the Narrow Gate and Beginning the World. She is the author of the world-wide best-seller, A History of God (which has now appeared in more than thirty languages), the acclaimed History of Jerusalem and, most recently, The Battle foe God. She is a teacher at the Leo Baeck College for the Study of Judaism and, in 1999, she received the Muslim Public Affairs Council Media Award. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Islam (Universal History) (Hardcover) If you're a casual reader looking to learn more about Islam, this is not the book for you. If you're an academic, you'll feel right at home reading the incessantly dry, academic-worded style of this book, but you probably won't like the book either. The author spends an incessant amount of time on historical details that few would ever care about, but she doesn't cover them in such a way as to satisfy historians either. The only good thing one could say about this book, if coming from this point of view, is that it doesn't have a religious bias. On the contrary, it doesn't cover the religious tenants of Islam whatsoever! Moreover, the author is not honest. Every major religion has events and time periods that it's followers would rather forget (and often do), but Karen Armstrong is continuously politically correct and often an apologist. The author is full of information. It's unfortunate that she cannot write in an honest, encompassing, and educationally entertaining manner. Comment | | (Report this)