The Case for Islamo–Christian Civilization - Hardcover

Bulliet, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0231127960 ISBN 13: 9780231127967

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 2004

Synopsis

Conventional wisdom maintains that the differences between Islam and Christianity are irreconcilable. Pre-eminent Middle East scholar Richard W. Bulliet disagrees, and in this fresh, provocative book he looks beneath the rhetoric of hatred and misunderstanding to challenge prevailing-and misleading-views of Islamic history and a "clash of civilizations." These sibling societies begin at the same time, go through the same developmental stages, and confront the same internal challenges. Yet as Christianity grows rich and powerful and less central to everyday life, Islam finds success around the globe but falls behind in wealth and power. Modernization in the nineteenth century brings in secular forces that marginalize religion in political and public life. In the Christian world, this simply furthers a process that had already begun. In the Middle East this gives rise to the tyrannical governments that continue to dominate. Bulliet argues that beginning in the 1950s American policymakers misread the Muslim world and, instead of focusing on the growing discontent against the unpopular governments, saw only a forum for liberal, democratic reforms within those governments. By fostering slogans like "clash of civilizations" and "what went wrong," Americans to this day continue to misread the Muslim world and to miss the opportunity to focus on common ground for building lasting peace. This book offers a fresh perspective on U.S.-Muslim relations and provides the intellectual groundwork upon which to help build a peaceful and democratic future in the Muslim world.

About this title

Review:

Richard Bulliet's The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization re-examines most of the pieties of the West about the Muslim world and Islamic politics (and about the West itself) and finds them not only wrong but wrongly conceived.... He argues that modern European and Muslim history are deeply intertwined and that one cannot be understood in isolation from the other, thereby launching a profound challenge to teachers, historians and policy-makers.--Juan Cole, University of Michigan "The International Journal of Middle East Studies "

A clearly written book, aimed at the general reader...requires a place on the library shelf--Steve Young "Library Journal "

Presents a persuasive case for viewing Islam and the West... [a]brilliant new book--Emran Qureshi "Toronto Globe and Mail "

Seeks to bridge a gap between Islam and the West... His solution is to try to patch things up by emphasizing all that Islam and Christianity have in common.--Daniel Lazare "The Nation "

Offers a rich lode of penetrating insights.--L. Carl Brown "Foreign Affairs "

It deserves the widest possible readership, addressing as it does with wit and insight one of the most freighted issues of our times.--Malise Ruthven "Times Literary Supplement "

Bulliet's ideas are collectively imaginative and a major contribution... No reader will see the history either of Christendom or Islam in quite the same way.--Ronald Davis "Domes "

Great scholarship and vision... Bulliet offers rare insights in the Islamic and the (post)-Christian worlds.--Johannes J. G. Jansen "International History Review "

An excellent touchstone... this is not a volume that should be ignored.--John J. Curry, Ph.D. "Digest of Middle East Studies "

[A] wise and wonderful book.--Howard J. Dooley "Journal of World History "

About the Author:

Richard W. Bulliet is professor of history at Columbia University. A former director of the Middle East Institute and executive secretary of the Middle East Studies Association, he is the author of Islam: The View from the Edge, The Camel and The Wheel, and editor of The Columbia History of the Twentieth Century. He lives in New York City.

About this edition

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0231127960
• ISBN 13: 9780231127967
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 192