Publisher Description
For many centuries, the world of Islam was at the forefront of human achievement—the foremost military and economic power in the world, the leader in the arts and sciences of civilization. Christian Europe, a remote land beyond its northwestern frontier, was seen as an outer darkness of barbarism and unbelief from which there was nothing to learn or to fear. And then everything changed, as the previously despised West won victory after victory, first on the battlefield and in the marketplace, then in almost every aspect of public and even private life. In this intriguing volume, Bernard Lewis examines the anguished reaction of the Islamic world as it tried to understand why things had changed, how they had been overtaken, overshadowed, and to an increasing extent dominated by the West.
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“Insightful book. Helped me understand Islamic culture from antiquity through to the modern era; particularly at it relates to the treatment of women, technological advances (or lack thereof), scientific discoveries, and refusal to acknowledge the truth of advancement despite the grave consequences.”
—
Chris (4 out of 5 stars)
