Synopses & Reviews
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 regions experience is the culmination of long-existing indigenous trends, passions, and patterns of behavior, and that foremost among these is Islams millenarian imperial tradition.
The author explores the history of Islams 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 behavior or policy in the Middle East, says Karsh. The House of Islams war for world mastery is traditional, indeed venerable, and it is a quest that is far from over.
Review
"Karsh races the reader...through the whole history of Muslim power....I like Karsh's robust refusal to accept Muslim history as a sob story against us in the West. His narrative helps explain the rage and the sheer hopelessness of so much Muslim engagement with modern politics." Charles Moore, The Telegraph
Review
"Anyone interested in the debate about the place of Islam in the modern world should read this book....Karsh offers a new approach. He rejects the condescending approach of the apologists and the hateful passion of the Islamophobes....What does Islam want? Karsh poses the question and answers it unambiguously." Amir Taheri, The Sunday Telegraph
Review
"[This book] turns on its head conventional wisdom that the Arab world is a perpetual victim whether of Western foreign policy, or of its own incompetence." Miriam Shaviv, Jewish Chronicle
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"In Islamic Imperialism Efraim Karsh argues for the existence of an Islamic imperial drive and traces it from Muhammad's time to current Islamist aggressions. One can hardly imagine a thesis with larger implications for prosecuting the war on terror." Daniel Pipes
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"Karsh's view of rising Islamic imperialism chills the blood. Multiculturalism looks different through the lens of his scholarship, and so does the future for global politics." Robert Fulford, Canada National Post
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"Karsh's lively, clearly written and well-researched account should have an appeal beyond an academic audience. The crisp manner with which he disposes of accepted wisdom will delight the reader. And in laying to rest the victim theory, he restores a measure of dignity to the Middle East." Ralph Amelan, Jerusalem Post
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"An informative foundation for further exploration of Islamic history." Booklist
Review
"Worthy of attention by general and advanced readers." Library Journal
Review
"The fundamental question is whether Islam as a private faith would still be Islam, or whether such privatization would spell its doom....The choice is between all and nothing." Theodore Dalrymple, City Journal
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.