Islamic Imperialism: A History - Softcover

Karsh, Efraim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300122632 ISBN 13: 9780300122633

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2007

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review:

'... he [Karsh] has performed a signal service in providing an explanation for much of what has been going on in the Middle East during the last century or so.'
-- Edmund Bosworth, Times Literary Supplement, January 2008

'...controversial, some might say inflammatory... a fascinating
read.'
-- The Guardian, June 16th, 2007

About the Author:

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0300122632
• ISBN 13: 9780300122633
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288