The Muslim Discovery of Europe

Rating:
Summary: Silky-smooth classic by a master
Review: "The Muslim Discovery of Europe" is a must-read for anyone interested in Middle Eastern history, especially the period between 1500 and 1900. Bernard Lewis writes in a silky-smooth, easy-to-read style, yet the book is erudite and not "Middle Eastern history for dummies".

Lewis explores how the "medieval iron curtain" between Christendom and Islam gradually broke down (to the extent that it did) between the Crusades and the middle of the 19th century, underscoring the Muslim world's changing views of Europe. From Islam's early days up through the Ottoman zenith in the 16th century, Islamic civilization was unquestionably more brilliant than its European counterpart. So Muslims didn't find much reason to be interested in the West. While Europe's Roman forbears might be worth a glance, the average Middle Easterner's image of a European before 1800 was the one (perhaps mythic) symbolized by the filthy Austrian soldiers who, in a 17th-century assault on Budapest (then an Ottoman city), turned an immaculate Turkish bath-house into a horse stable and then washed themselves in their animals' urine. With some justification, Muslim scholars reasoned that Europe had no important ideas and no important literature: the most noteworthy European writer of the Middle Ages, after all, was St. Thomas Aquinas, whose books obviously didn't have anything interesting to say to Muslims. Consequently, for centuries, educated Muslims thought it was a waste of time to learn about Europe. As late as the 18th century, Ottoman officialdom was still referring to Europeans -- in government documents -- with nifty little derogatory jingles like "Ingiliz dinsiz" (Englishman without religion), "Fransiz jansiz" (soulless Frenchman), and "Engurus menhus" (inauspicious Hungarian), not to mention the standard and official use of the term "infidel" (kafr). In a way, though, their ignorance is surprising only in hindsight.

By 1800, all this had changed. Napoleon's Egyptian campaign (1798) initiated a new wave of European imperialism that over the 19th century, and for the first time since the Crusades, would establish Europeans in positions of direct or indirect power in significant parts of the Middle East. Muslims saw up-close how far Europeans had left them in the lurch: militarily, scientifically, politically, and economically. Rulers recognized that "modernizing" (that is, Europeanizing) their societies was imperative if they were going to prevent foreigners from eventually taking over (some did anyway). The 20th-century implications of these changes were huge: the struggle between tradition and Westernization was (and is) one of the keynotes of modern Middle East history.

Lewis ventures far beyond wars and politics and addresses every aspect of the subject: in fact, politics figures into very little of the book directly. Chapter 3, for example, is entirely about language and translation, examining what Muslims thought and knew about European languages and literature on the eve of their "discovery" of Europe. Other chapters explore what Muslims who traveled to Europe thought about this formerly bizarre and exotic destination and the impact made on Muslims by Europeans who traveled in the Middle East. There are also sections on the economy, the reception of European culture, religion, the military, etc.

Again, Lewis' style is extremely fluid and this is a book that everybody can enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Silky-smooth classic by a master
Review: "The Muslim Discovery of Europe" is a must-read for anyone interested in Middle Eastern history, especially the period between 1500 and 1900. Bernard Lewis writes in a silky-smooth, easy-to-read style, yet the book is erudite and not "Middle Eastern history for dummies".

Lewis explores how the "medieval iron curtain" between Christendom and Islam gradually broke down (to the extent that it did) between the Crusades and the middle of the 19th century, underscoring the Muslim world's changing views of Europe. From Islam's early days up through the Ottoman zenith in the 16th century, Islamic civilization was unquestionably more brilliant than its European counterpart. So Muslims didn't find much reason to be interested in the West. While Europe's Roman forbears might be worth a glance, the average Middle Easterner's image of a European before 1800 was the one (perhaps mythic) symbolized by the filthy Austrian soldiers who, in a 17th-century assault on Budapest (then an Ottoman city), turned an immaculate Turkish bath-house into a horse stable and then washed themselves in their animals' urine. With some justification, Muslim scholars reasoned that Europe had no important ideas and no important literature: the most noteworthy European writer of the Middle Ages, after all, was St. Thomas Aquinas, whose books obviously didn't have anything interesting to say to Muslims. Consequently, for centuries, educated Muslims thought it was a waste of time to learn about Europe. As late as the 18th century, Ottoman officialdom was still referring to Europeans -- in government documents -- with nifty little derogatory jingles like "Ingiliz dinsiz" (Englishman without religion), "Fransiz jansiz" (soulless Frenchman), and "Engurus menhus" (inauspicious Hungarian), not to mention the standard and official use of the term "infidel" (kafr). In a way, though, their ignorance is surprising only in hindsight.

By 1800, all this had changed. Napoleon's Egyptian campaign (1798) initiated a new wave of European imperialism that over the 19th century, and for the first time since the Crusades, would establish Europeans in positions of direct or indirect power in significant parts of the Middle East. Muslims saw up-close how far Europeans had left them in the lurch: militarily, scientifically, politically, and economically. Rulers recognized that "modernizing" (that is, Europeanizing) their societies was imperative if they were going to prevent foreigners from eventually taking over (some did anyway). The 20th-century implications of these changes were huge: the struggle between tradition and Westernization was (and is) one of the keynotes of modern Middle East history.

Lewis ventures far beyond wars and politics and addresses every aspect of the subject: in fact, politics figures into very little of the book directly. Chapter 3, for example, is entirely about language and translation, examining what Muslims thought and knew about European languages and literature on the eve of their "discovery" of Europe. Other chapters explore what Muslims who traveled to Europe thought about this formerly bizarre and exotic destination and the impact made on Muslims by Europeans who traveled in the Middle East. There are also sections on the economy, the reception of European culture, religion, the military, etc.

Again, Lewis' style is extremely fluid and this is a book that everybody can enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: a bit overwhelming
Review: Bernard Lewis has put together a great deal of information relating to the Muslim World and its relations to the Europe but there seems to be so much information placed into one book it can be difficult to figure out what exactly Lewis is trying to say in this particular book. The chapters are good because they deal with suth topics as the Muslim View of the World, Science and Technology and Cultural Life. He does provide some pretty detailed analysis of the relationship between the Muslim World and Europe but it seems like the book could have been split up into two or three seperate book in which he could have focused on particular areas of the topics in the Muslim Discovery of Europe.

Rating:
Summary: The Moslim Perception of the World
Review: Bernard Lewis is a historian and expert on the Islamic world or more specifically the Middle East. In the Muslim Discovery of Europe he looks at how the Islamic world came to see the West and its influence.

Throughout Lewis shows the strange duality of the Islamic regimes and culture. In some ways tolerant of Christianity and Judaism (although more dismissive and contemptuous than is commonly realized), Islamic culture became incapable of making the next leap forward into a more secular, rationale society.

Here Lewis traces the perception of writers, scientists, diplomats and traders from the Ottoman empire through their letters, edicts and other writings. It is an amazing eye opener for those unfamiliar with non-western perceptions. Lewis shows a culture that is first progressive, then increasingly unable to come to grips with either the West or its science and technology. What was progressive becomes eventually, under the latter Ottomans, the definition of decay and backwardness.

This is great historical writing in some ways as important, though not as revisionist, as Eric Wolfe's "Europe and the Peoples Without a History". Highly illuminating and highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent history of how Islam saw the West
Review: Bernard Lewis is a historian and expert on the Islamic world or more specifically the Middle East. In the Muslim Discovery of Europe he looks at how the Islamic world came to see the West and its influence.

Throughout Lewis shows the strange duality of the Islamic regimes and culture. In some ways tolerant of Christianity and Judaism (although more dismissive and contemptuous than is commonly realized), Islamic culture became incapable of making the next leap forward into a more secular, rationale society.

Here Lewis traces the perception of writers, scientists, diplomats and traders from the Ottoman empire through their letters, edicts and other writings. It is an amazing eye opener for those unfamiliar with non-western perceptions. Lewis shows a culture that is first progressive, then increasingly unable to come to grips with either the West or its science and technology. What was progressive becomes eventually, under the latter Ottomans, the definition of decay and backwardness.

This is great historical writing in some ways as important, though not as revisionist, as Eric Wolfe's "Europe and the Peoples Without a History". Highly illuminating and highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining
Review: I enjoyed reading this book. It explains the two different world views. How sort of snubbery of a people puts the nations back in science and technology. One can still see the remnants of those ideas in populations of current nations. The story is basically mostly about the Ottomans although limited information is given from other muslim countries.It is about their impressions and value judgements on behavior of Europians. How they reacted what others or so called "inferiors" were doing. How they laughed at on things that eventually haunted them. It is still true, you can not find any study in those countries about Christianity. This is a good reading for people from Middle east for there are a lot of explanations why Middle East is left behind in the race.Scenes that are transmitted from original sources asre very vivid.

Rating:
Summary: All Over The Place...
Review: I had trouble maintaining my concentration and interest with this book. Despite the fact that the author has broken the book up into "theme" chapters, such as "Muslim Scholarship About The West," "Government And Justice," "Science And Technology," etc., the book suffers from a lack of focus. Mr. Lewis keeps jumping back and forth, within the space of a few sentences, in both time (from about 700-1900 A.D.) and space (from Morocco across to Iran). He seems to have just gathered together a lot of material and pretty much jumbled it together. It doesn't really come together, and I found the structure disconcerting and even annoying. Another problem is that the author includes too many excerpts from first person accounts, which results in whatever narrative flow the book does have being disrupted even further. There is too much repetition- the author makes the same points over and over and includes four quotations when one or two would suffice. The book merits three stars because if you have the patience to sift through all of the material, you will be rewarded with some nuggets. For example, in the section dealing with economics, Mr. Lewis mentions that coffee and sugar both originated, commercially speaking, in Muslim countries, but these same countries wound up importing both items (because of lower prices) from the Central American and Caribbean colonies of Western European countries; in the section on religion, the author explains that Muslims had a difficult time understanding the concept of a Pope, especially that a man could forgive sins, as in Islam there is no such hierarchy as exists in the Catholic Church, and only God can forgive sins; in the chapter entitled "Social And Personal" the author quotes a disgusted Muslim regarding European personal hygiene: "You shall see none more filthy than they...They do not cleanse or bathe themselves more than once or twice a year, and then in cold water, and they do not wash their garments from the time they put them on until they fall to pieces. They shave their beards, and after shaving they sprout only a revolting stubble." Some of the excerpts are enlightening, some funny, and some sad (because they demonstrate the prejudice, intolerance, and lack of understanding that runs in both directions- and certainly gives us reason to ponder what the future holds in store). Again, though, there is just too much data here which is put together in a slapdash fashion. Mr. Lewis had a basic idea which could have resulted in an excellent book. Too bad the end result didn't fulfill the original promise.

Rating:
Summary: Very Ambiguous Time in Arab/Muslim history WELL WRITTEN
Review: Its torpid reading but very insightful and eyeopening. It makes known the scientific and mathematic achievements that we take for granted that were given to us by Arabs philosphers, scientists, mathmaticians etc. Like Al-Jabr or Algebra or the medical anthology by ibn Sina commonly referred to in Europe as Avicenna.
"The Muslim Discovery of Europe" by Bernard Lewis. Published by W.W Norton its is around 350 pages. THis is another good book that has a decieving title. When read you will understand. It is sort of dry compared to other books but deals with the Ottoman Empire and the Europe in the Middle Ages and the apex of Arab civilization. It has a great explanation for the stagnation of the Muslim/Arab Empire.

Rating:
Summary: Dense But Well Written
Review: This is not an easy read, but Professor Bernard Lewis is a skilled writer. The book is divided into various disciplines; culture, science, language, government, etc., and spans approximately 1000 years of contact between the Muslim east (Persia, Ottoman Turkey, Arabia, Mughal India) and the European west.

It is not written chronologically, as other reviewers have commented, but this didn't bother me, personally. Prof. Lewis gives real insight into a variety of Islamic views of the west. I could not ignore that for the majority of the 1000 years covered, there was just as much intolerance and arrogance exhibited by Muslims as there was by Westerners. I was hoping to find a few more positive sketches of the historical contact between east and west.

Prof. Lewis writes with skill and an authoriatative voice, and I saw no reason to believe that his conclusions were false or misleading. Many of the numerous sources he uses are amazing as well. A great book that offers a fresh view of Western history and Westerners, as well as Muslim history. It is also difficult to not apply what is read here to the current world situation. A great book.

Rating:
Summary: Tough sledding for the non-scholar.
Review: Though incredibly comprehensive, I'm afraid this book was a little too heavy for my recreational reading. I learned much, but about half way through I just began losing my concentration and interest. The book succeeded handsomely in familiarizing me with Islamic history and perspectives, but after a while, I just found myself getting bored. I'm certain that this is an estimable work about an important subject, by a formidable scholar, but I guess I just found the book a little too dry, too detailed and too pedantic.