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Summary: Lewis' balanced insight into Islam and the Middle East
Review: No scholar has done more to provide the West with a balanced, insightful view of the history and mindset of the Middle East and Islam than Bernard Lewis. His current book is in keeping with that assessment...
Rating: 
Summary: The Crisis of Bernard Lewis
Review: "In current American usage, the phrase 'that's history' is commonly used to dismiss something as unimportant, of no relevance to current concerns, and despite an immense investment in the teaching and writing of history, the general level of historical knowledge in American society is abysmally low."
-- Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of IslamHow strange that Professor Lewis would candidly reveal his contemptuous attitude towards the very readership for which this book was written. The irony, though, is that the book only complicates the problem. Instead of raising the 'abysmally low level of historical knowledge', it actively seeks to lower it even further. The innumerable contradictions, half-truths, and outright lies badly confuse the topic at hand. Professor Lewis ultimately defeats his stated objective by ensuring that the matter will remain misunderstood. Sadly, that seems to be precisely his aim. There are three core problems with this book. The first is that Lewis has a bad habit of equating Arabs and Muslims. For example, commenting on the 'failure of modernity', Lewis remarks that, "American paramountcy, as Middle Easterners see it, indicates where to direct the blame." Is he including the 14 million Arab Christians who also comprise his "Middle Easterners"? Almost half of the population of Lebanon is Christian. Huge numbers of Christians can be found in Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Sudan, Egypt, and Iraq. Significantly, Tariq Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq and Saddam Hussein's right hand man, is a Christian. Elsewhere, on page 148, Lewis claims that a number of Arab terrorists during the 1970's and 1980's were Christian. What do Arab Christians have to do with 'the crisis of Islam'? Is this book about Arabs or Islam? The second core problem is Lewis's reluctance to acknowledge the disastrous effects of British and French imperialism. The Brits and French were responsible for carelessly drawing Middle Eastern borders on a map in a secluded boardroom, with little clue as to what they were doing, and without any concern for what might happen in the future. Moreover, the imparting imperialists installed deeply unpopular dictatorships in the newly carved-out countries of the Middle East. Almost every single problem in the Middle today, from border disputes to tyrannical governments, can be traced to this bungling imperial policy. The British were the first to support the Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, if Saudi Arabia is the center of Wahhabism (it certainly is), then why in God's name has the US actively supported Saudi Arabia for over 60 years? Why does the US *continue* to support the Wahhabi state? Where did the Wahhabis get the money to propagate their madness in the first place? Somehow, none of this seems to bother Bernard Lewis. The third core problem is the general and random occurrence of excessively silly comments. Lewis describes Turkey as a "free society". Perhaps he was referring to the 30,000 Kurds who have been brutally slaughtered by the Turkish military and the 500,000 Kurds who have been driven from their homes, not to mention tens of thousands more who have been tortured and gang [attacked] for being an unwanted minority (see the reports from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International for more details). On page 118 he claims that British and French imperialists installed "democratic institutions" in the Middle East (without giving any examples, of course), only to contradict himself on page 124 by acknowledging the monarchy established in Jordan (monarchies were established elsewhere, too). He tastelessly puts the number of Palestinian victims at the Sabra and Shatila massacres at "some seven or eight hundred". The actual numbers are well over 1,700. On page 103, he advances the bizarre conspiracy theory that Iraq, Syria, and the Palestinian Authority have "developed great skill" in "manipulating" the mass media in the West. Setting aside the stupidity behind this charge, what does it have to do with "the crisis of Islam"? Lewis also refers to "the great Winston Churchill", an uncompromising racist, who praised the extinction of the Native American population and even praised the use of poison gas against "uncivilized tribes" in Iraq. How ironic... However, the silliness is ultimately captured in Lewis's moralizing in the book about human rights. In 1994, Professor Bernard Lewis publically denied the Armenian genocide (akin to denying the Holocaust). Such an outrageous claim excited a storm of fury from human rights organizations. He was later convicted and fined for this scandalous denial (see "France Fines Historian Over Armenian Denial", Boston Globe, 22 June 1995). Incidentally, the Armenian genocide was carried about by Turkey, the very country that Lewis praises as a role model for the Middle East. The Crisis of Islam is a poorly written and uninformative book. It's also very boring to read and ignores the more careful, scholarly, and far more interesting work on the issues he addresses. For example, on British and French imperial policy, see David Fromkin, A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East; on Iraqi history (and Winston Churchill's love of poison gas), see G. L. Simons, Iraq: From Sumer to Saddam; on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, see the Israeli historian Avi Schlaim, The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World; on the Sabra and Shatila massacres, see Robert Fisk, Pity the Nation; on the cozy alliance between Western governments and brutal Arab dictatorships, see Said K. Aburish, A Brutal Friendship: The West and the Arab Elite; on the fundamentalist interpretation of Islam, see Hamid Algar, Wahhabism: A Critical Essay; on terrorism, see John L. Esposito, Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam; on the position of Islam towards terrorism and terrorists, see Khaled Abou El Fadl, Violence and Rebellion in Islamic Law. All of these wonderful and greatly informative titles are available right here at www.Amazon.com. In conclusion, this book is a disappointment. Terrorism is certainly a menace and should be confronted up front. However, Lewis's silliness, coupled with his petty, anti-French, pro-Israeli apologetics, are very distracting from the core issues at hand. My recommendation: don't waste your money this book.
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Summary: The Totalitarian Islamists are Suicidal Nihilists
Review: Bernard Lewis once again earns our unhesitating respect and adulation. It is an outright scandal that this great scholar is not a household name. He may very well be the most important voice in the early part of the 21st Century. This brilliant work expands upon his earlier book, "What Went Wrong." Lewis is polite but blunt: the Muslim world has not undergone a religious and cultural reformation similar to that experienced by Christians and Jews. Some 400-500 years ago, the Islamic leaders rejected scientific and intellectual progress. The inevitable result is that many Muslims today understandably possess an inferiority complex. They are existentially bitter and envious concerning the preeminent dominance of the West. The sons of Mohammed were not suppose to be second raters and mired in poverty. Sadly, anti-intellectualism is so rampant that the Islamic countries are infamous for not purchasing books. The Muslim elite usually must travel to the West to obtain a good education. Women are second class citizens often doomed to remain functionally illiterate and politically marginalized. Logical consistency is not a perceived virtue. They despise our modern societies while taking full advantage of our cell phones and vastly superior weapon systems. Professor Lewis suggests that German intellectuals have much to do with converting the Muslims over to the virus of anti-Americanism. The United States is allegedly morally weak and pleasure seeking according to Martin Heiddeger, Oswald Spengler, and others discombobulated by our dynamism and willingness to take risks. How hated are we? The Islamists mostly ignore the failings of other Western countries and do not give us credit even when Americans, for instance, rescue their Muslim brothers and sisters in the Balkans. The Russians, after all, were initially barely taken to task for invading Afghanistan. He also contends that anti-Semitism became rampant in the Middle East due to the pernicious influences of the Nazis. The oil wealth of the Saudi government has funded the radicalism of the Wahhabi faction of Islamic extremism. One should try imagining, asserts Lewis, the Texas political structure lavishly funding the efforts of the Ku Klux Klan. Is there any hope that the more numerous and moderate Muslims will be able to marginalize their militant counterparts? What hope is there that the extremists can be prevented from successfully furthering their nihilistic aims? You absolutely must read this book. I am not indulging in even a bit of hyperbole to declare that your very life and those of your loved ones may depend on it. The Islamic nihilists are not going to disappear anytime in the near future. We need to better understand our enemy who will not rest until this planet is utterly destroyed. Indeed, suicide is their ultimate goal! Bernard Lewis is arguably our foremost guiding light during these difficult times. Lastly, it will also behoove you to immediately read Eric Hoffer's seminal classic, The True Believer. The latter readily compliments Lewis' own insights.
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Summary: How'd we get here? Where might we be going?
Review: Bernard Lewis is a master of clarity. I must say I have not read any of his works other than his "Middle East," but the quality of these two books, combined with his general reputation make it clear that he is a giant in the field of Arab and Islamic studies. His grasp of history is phenomenal, and his ability to apply history to current exigencies is astounding. "The Crisis in Islam" very neatly, but not simplistically, lays out the history of relations between the (mainly) Christian West, and the world of Islam, beginning with the generation of the Prophet up to the current times. It is critical to understand, and the brilliant introduction lights the way, that Muslim from birth see the world in metaphors that we can barely descrobe. The former American imperative of Manifest Destiny is a pale reflection of the inevitability many, but certainly not all, Muslim feel about the spread of the "Dar al-Islam" in the world. This literally translates as "House of Peace" and implies the eventual conquering and conversion to Islam of the entire planet, without room for compromise. All other "nations" and religions are within the "Dar al-Harb," literally "House of the Sword." No permanent peace can exist between the two houses. (Again I stress that this is NOT a universal attitude.) In Lewis' thesis, attitudes toward the West have evolved through contacts with first the Eastern Empire in Constantinople, then Spain, Portugal and France, and through years of direct conflict in the Crusades and the colonial wars of the 19th and 20th centuries. Combine this with the flourishing of multiple schools and "sects" within Islam, combined with chance vagaries of history, and you wind up with the hegemony of the Wahhabi school within the Kingdom of the Su'ud family (now Sa'udi Arabia). Then add the discovery of oil. Then add the poverty of most Arab Muslim people whose only access to any education is via Wahhabi supported schools and mosques, and you have a very heady recipe. While this is grossly oversimplified, it gives the barest skeleton of the first part of the book. To Lewis, the influence and philosophy of the Arab Wahhabis and Iranian Shi'ites make accomodation pretty much impossible. The West, especially the United States is seen as primarily a force for temptation and corruption. There are many surprise insights in the book; one big one for me was the revelation that the hostage crisis in Iran in 1979 was not due to the decline in relations between the two "Dar"s, but instead because there was a threat of 'rapprochement' which was seen as potentially corrupting. Another was the explanation of how democratic process is used by some as a tool to achieve power legitimately, then subverted in a method he calls amusingly the "One man (only men), one vote, one time" method. While popular demand may be for self-determination, the hard-liners (who are really NOT fundamentalists) have other agenda. And the West has done a pretty poor job making a case for co-existence, given its history in such places as Iraq and Syria. I cannot recommend the book enough as a quick, but not superficial way to "catch up" with how our Muslim brothers have arrived at the current impasse, and how terrorism seems to function within a peculiar and very important social structure.
Rating:
Summary: A thorough examination and presentation.
Review: I believe I have read all of Bernard Lewis's books, I had never reviewed any of them but wouldn't have given them 5 stars as I have this one. That is mostly since this book is less opinionated, rather it can be best described as a chart or time line of Islam which Bernard relates to the current crisis Islam is now facing. The history lesson takes us back several centuries but only highlights certain critical points, the study is mostly 20th century detail which he carefully dissects to channel this information. That channeling is pointing the militant muslim terrorist right in the face with pure facts. I also have to add this 20th Century study is profoundly detailed and page turning! I do have to say Lewis is completely balanced, unlike his other books, as he does not meld any group of Muslims but tediously separates apples from bad apples here. This is in fact the first book I've read that does separate Islam from the bad apples. The book is ingeniously planned and kept me very interested, I wanted to finish reading it as soon as I got into the first ten pages. The only drawback to reading this book is that it confirmed to me that we will in fact be living in terrorism for generations to come. That is overwhelmingly obvious after finishing a few chapters. To think that the terrorist is going to accept modern day "Via's" is completely shot down and is explained. It's a must buy along with SB 1 or God which predicted the attacks and war in Iraq and Jihad to follow, by Karl Maddox.
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Summary: Good book if you have no idea of whats going on
Review: First off, it was difficult to decide which of Bernard Lewis's book concerning this topic to choose from. Overall, this book gives a short history of Islam and how it has developed over 1300 years. It seems the fanantics are interrupting the Koran and as well as past leaders in ways it was not intended. One of the reason to read this book is to understand how Muslims think and how they look at the Koran. It is not the same way Christians look and interrupt the bible. This was very revealing to myself. The other thing is actually some of the verses of the Koran Lewis discusses. That in and of itself is very scary.
Many thing I knew, but this book did a good job of filling in some gaps and a little deeper understanding of their faith. I plan on reading some more of Lewis's books.
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Summary: Short and informative
Review: Bernard Lewis does an excellent job of tracing back several of the problems plaguing the modern Islamic world to historical developments, especially during the 20th century. One learns, for example, how several destructive ideologies developed in the West were imported in the Arab-Muslim world by much-too-eager students like Nasser in Egypt. How the ideology of the Baath party in Syria partly derives from Nazi rhetoric introduced to the country (under French mandate during World War II) when they came under the Vichy government. How Nazi-inspired anti-semitic propaganda is still alive and well in that part of the world. How the fundamentailist Wahhabis, nowadays the main sponsors and promoters of Islam around the non-islamic world, would have been "a fringe group in a marginal country" if Saudi Arabia didn't happen to have oil. And much more. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Polarized reviews !
Review: I noted reading the reviews a very much polarized set of opinions - the "you wouldn't understand it unless you were as intelligent as me " types, and with great amusement, the ranting feminist who clearly hasnt read the book demanding the reader to read a pro-islamic alternative !
The book is loaded with facts well told and not at all lecturing. It is true a basic knowledge of the facts is required, and as for bias one way or the other, I personally didnt notice any. You'll read, and whatever way your mind is angled on the subject, this book isnt going to change it much. I personally find the islamic religion regressive to a ludicrous degree, hugely intolerant of any other religion, and aggressive in a similar manner, and this book didnt change that. But an interesting well written view regardless.
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding work from foremost authority on Islam
Review: After having read some of Lewis' other works as well as the writings of others on the Middle East, I continue to be amazed at how accessible Lewis is for both the beginner and the initiated. This is an enjoyable read on a very unenjoyable topic: Lewis packs a substantial amount of useful information into a quick-paced study piece. Partly philosophical, mostly historical and always logical, Lewis helps the reader understand the undercurrents that shape the modern Middle East and the schism that splits Islam today. He is a truth-teller who has no use for politicizing history, and he is eminently objective in his rendering of the greatest crisis facing the Middle East and the world today. I would recommend reading this book first among other similar books on Islam's modern history; it servers as a very useful introduction to the major themes that define Islam and Islamic politics today.
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Summary: Concise but informative discussion, read by author
Review: This is the first source that has explained for me the difficulty of finding common ground between the West and Islam on the concept of "separation of Church and State".
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