Islam in History: Ideas, People, and Events in the Middle East

We can only wish that people in responsible positions in the West had read and absorbed the points Bernard Lewis makes in "Islam in History." He certainly tried. Lewis is no ivory tower historian who writes recondite monographs for other ivory tower historians. Many of the essays collected here -- as well as his other, more recent collection "From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting the Middle East" -- were published in various easily accessible, if high brow, venues, such as the New York Review of Books. And they have been out for a while. The first edition of "Islam in History" was published in 1973. It received the attention due to a leading -- some would say, the leading -- Western scholar of Islam, but not the understanding. In the preface to this newer, revised and expanded but still rather elderly collection (1993), Lewis thanks those who helped him but, in his reserved but mordant style, adds, "I do not however feel obliged to defer to the judgments of those reviewers who in 1973 thought that I had underestimated 'the gains made by secularism in the Muslim world' and that I had exaggerated the significance of Muslim movements in Iran." Touche. But with the experience of an additional 15 years, we can see that even Lewis was not pessimistic enough. And that the executors of history have learned nothing at all from Lewis' half century of brilliant insights. Not that I think they are all brilliant, a point I will expand later. But in a 1992 essay, Lewis probed deeply into the question: Why do they hate us? That Muslims do hate the West and its values should hardly be debatable in 2008, although it still is debated. In 1992, Lewis was bemused by the rally to Saddam by Muslims and Western leftists. His core paragraph deserves to be quoted in full: "But beyond all these (enthusiasms of Arabs for antidemocratic forces in Europe) there was and unfortunately still is a profound, pervasive, and passionate hatred of the West and all it represents, as a world power, as an ideology, as a way of life, and that hatred is extended to embrace a wide range of local Westernizers and modernizers. It is a hatred so deep that it has led those who feel it to rally to any plausible enemy of the West -- even a racist like Hitler who despised Arabs, an atheist like Stalin who suppressed Islam, a gangster like Saddam Hussein who violated every rule of Arab decency and Islamic morality." Well, I don't think much of "Arab decency," but if George Bush had understood the arguments that underlie that paragraph, he would not still be making fatuous statements about Iraqi democracy. He might still have been justified in knocking off Saddam. Being the only man in history to depose a genocidal murderer from his throne, hale him into a court of law and see him convicted and hanged is no small achievement, and Muslims should thank him for it, but they don't; but to also expect the rescued Muslims to embrace political liberty was expecting much too much. After long expe

Lewis, as always, impresses; breadth of knowledge and research is typically outstanding. Flashes of good judgement, but pretentious and assertive (though mine's apparently an earlier edition: "Ideas, Men and Events...East" and he may've softened tone a touch for 2nd ed.)- and, regardless, it'd certainly be difficult to blame him for this-- the man's a thoroughbred. His philology isn't always accurate, and the spirit is truly 'orientalist' in Said's sense; nonetheless, a terribly enjoyable read and a classic source for a foundation in the subject. ps- His Babel to Dragomans is even more impressive and should be compulsory.

Bernard Lewis is considered the foremost authority on the Middle East and has written many highly acclaimed works. This book has 32 essays that focus on very specific topics. Each essay is presented objectively and his technical expertise and depth of knowledge is masterly. My personal favorites in this collection are the essays on Muslim History and Historians, History and Revolution, New Idea's and lastly, the section on New Events. Essays are designed to stand alone, however, when read consecutively as part of a section, also add further clarity as part of the larger topic.

As Professor Lewis states in the Preface to the second edition of this work, "Islam in History" is a collection of thirty-two articles on Islam. Anybody wishing to gain some understanding of this very important, very misunderstood, and very troubled civilization, should read this book. Lewis, once again, provides the reader with a magnificent work that is not pedantic but instructive, that does not belittle its subject nor its audience, and that demonstrates how necessary true scholarship is, particularly in times such as these.The book is divided into eight parts: Western Approaches, Muslim History and Historians, Muslims and Jews, Turks and Tatars, In Black and White, History and Revolution, New Ideas, and New Events. Since this new edition dates from 1993, the recent developments in the world should not be expected. However, I really meant it when I wrote that true scholarship is necessary in our world: in the last essay of this volume, Lewis writes that there have been basically two atitudes from Muslims to confront the problems of the Islamic/Arab world (he does not deal with the East-Asian Mulims, like Indonesians and Malaysians, because he admits that he does not know much about them), divided into two questions. The first one is "What did we do wrong?" The second is "Who did this to us?" The first question leads to the search for solutions. The second question, and this deserves to be quoted at length, "leads to delusions and fantasies and conspiracy theories--indeed, the most dangerous enemies of the Muslim peoples at this time are those who assure them that in all their troubles the fault is not in themselves but in open or occult hostile forces. Such beliefs can only lead to resentment and frustration, to an endless, useless succession of bigots and tyrants and to a role in world history aptly symbolized by the suicide bomber. In the first of these questions ["What did we do wrong?], for those who have the courage to ask it, and the vision to answer, lies hope for the future and for a new dawn of Muslim creativity."Professor Lewis wrote those lines in 1993, but they are as relevant today as if he had written them on September 12, 2001. In fact, the last number of "The Atlantic Monthly" has an article by Professor Lewis where he presents this basic premise once more, since it was true a decade ago and it is true today.I cannot recommend Bernard Lewis's books strongly enough. This one, as all his other books that I have read, is erudite, informative, interesting, serious, entertaining and, above all, important. If you have never read anything by him, but are interested in this book, read his recent article in "The New Yorker" ("The Revolt of Islam"), and the already mentioned article in "The Atlantic." Those articles will serve as an Introduction to "Islam in History." Bernard Lewis is an extraordinary scholar, and we are lucky to have him with us.