Islam and The West- Bernard Lewis

Islam and the West

Praised as the “doyen of Middle Eastern studies” by The New York Times Book Review, Bernard Lewis has been one of the leading scholars on Islamic history and culture in the West for over half a century. He is the author of more than two dozen books, most notably The Arabs in History, The Emergence of Modern Turkey, The Political Language of Islam, and The Muslim Discovery of Europe. Renowned French historian Robert Mantran wrote of Lewis’s work:
"How can one resist a writer who opens the doors to a universe that is unknown or misunderstood, leading you into its innermost realms — religion, lifestyles, patterns of thought, concepts of power, culture — while overturning many long-held, misleading, or partisan assumptions?"

In Islam and the West, Bernard Lewis brings together eleven essays that open doors to the deepest dimensions of Islam, all within a single volume. These essays span a wide spectrum — from long pieces that serve as a capsule history of the interactions (in war and peace, commerce and culture) between Europe and its Muslim neighbors, to shorter, masterful studies such as his exploration of the Arabic word for “homeland” and what it signifies. Through linguistic history, Lewis demonstrates that the concept of patriotism was imported from the West.

He offers an illuminating look at Edward Gibbon’s portrayal of Muhammad in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (unlike previous writers, Gibbon did not view the rise of Islam as something isolated or as a regrettable deviation from the progress of the church, but rather as part of the greater history of humanity). Lewis also delivers a scathing critique of Edward Said’s controversial book Orientalism, and explores the difficulties of translating classical Arabic into other languages (such as how old dictionaries are filled with transcription errors, misreadings, faulty analogies, and etymological guesses that pay little attention to linguistic evolution).

He concludes with a brilliant commentary on today’s Islamic world — examining themes of rebirth, fundamentalism, the role of the Shiites, and the broader question of religious coexistence among Muslims, Christians, and Jews.

An unparalleled guide to the background of contemporary Middle Eastern conflicts, Islam and the West offers the seasoned reflections of a distinguished authority on one of the world’s most fascinating and least understood regions.

Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication Date: October 27, 1994
Language: English
Dimensions: 9.21 x 6.15 x 0.62 inches
Page Count: 240 pages