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cemoses's review against another edition
4.0
A better tittle for the book may be two hundred years of Western Imperialism in the Muslim. As such it is an effective but too long a book.
Particularly for us in the US, it is hard for us to imagine how much of the world Europe colonized. Much of the modern Middle East is a British creation. Egypt in the nineteenth century had been occupied by both the British and the French who looked down on the native population and were very brutal. The strongest part of this book deals with Western colonialism in the Middle East.
The book is too large. It should have just focused on the Middle East. Instead it deals the entire Muslim world which is very large and consists of many different cultures. I ended up skipping over the pages that dealt with Muslims in China and the Philippines. It seemed liked a subject matter for a different book.
Though the book is written in an academic style it is a relative easy read for a book written in this style. Many books written in an academic style are totally unappealing to a lay reader.
It is disappointing that the book does not go inter the full Thousand-year history of contact between the Muslim and Christian world. It still seems to matter to moderns. The author does go into Western Crusades which were very bloody. However, I thought the author did not discuss enough whether the Muslims would have invaded Europe if they could.
The book is written sympathetically towards the Muslims. It did provide me with a greater understanding of the Middle East. However, sometimes one wonders if the author does glosses over many of the internal difficulties of the modern Muslim world.
Particularly for us in the US, it is hard for us to imagine how much of the world Europe colonized. Much of the modern Middle East is a British creation. Egypt in the nineteenth century had been occupied by both the British and the French who looked down on the native population and were very brutal. The strongest part of this book deals with Western colonialism in the Middle East.
The book is too large. It should have just focused on the Middle East. Instead it deals the entire Muslim world which is very large and consists of many different cultures. I ended up skipping over the pages that dealt with Muslims in China and the Philippines. It seemed liked a subject matter for a different book.
Though the book is written in an academic style it is a relative easy read for a book written in this style. Many books written in an academic style are totally unappealing to a lay reader.
It is disappointing that the book does not go inter the full Thousand-year history of contact between the Muslim and Christian world. It still seems to matter to moderns. The author does go into Western Crusades which were very bloody. However, I thought the author did not discuss enough whether the Muslims would have invaded Europe if they could.
The book is written sympathetically towards the Muslims. It did provide me with a greater understanding of the Middle East. However, sometimes one wonders if the author does glosses over many of the internal difficulties of the modern Muslim world.
susani_'s review against another edition
3.0
I was lucky enough to get a free copy via Netgalley for a true and honest opinion.
This was a interesting read and perfect for those historian buffs! It is a quite a heavy read and it took me ages to finally finish it.
This book starts from pre-Islaic period, then to start of Islam, focusing on Muhammad (PBUH) and all the way to our present time. As you can tell, that is A LOT of history to get through, considering how many countries, events, people the author has to go through.
I don't think this book is good for beginners but probably someone who has a sound understanding, as it does get a bit confusing.
Overall, it was good and I would recommend it.
This was a interesting read and perfect for those historian buffs! It is a quite a heavy read and it took me ages to finally finish it.
This book starts from pre-Islaic period, then to start of Islam, focusing on Muhammad (PBUH) and all the way to our present time. As you can tell, that is A LOT of history to get through, considering how many countries, events, people the author has to go through.
I don't think this book is good for beginners but probably someone who has a sound understanding, as it does get a bit confusing.
Overall, it was good and I would recommend it.
toria's review
5.0
Crusade and Jihad
The Thousand-Year War Between the Muslim World and the Global North
By William R. Polk
Source Netgalley
Publication date 9th January 2018
Polk has reported from many global hotspots during the course of his career. This book is his attempt to begin to put the pieces together. He explores the relationship between the ‘Muslim East’ and the ‘Christian West’. From the Moguls to the modern day, it spans the Muslim/Arab world; from Africa to the ‘Middle East’, from China to Europe, and all stops in between. It looks at this history in order to explain the present day. Polk looks at the tensions that exist between ‘East and West’, analysing the horrors of colonialism and the seeds of today’s terrorism, The book explores the origins of many of today’s most active terrorist organisations. This is a long book, a hard read that may intimidate the casual reader, but it's worth the effort.
The Thousand-Year War Between the Muslim World and the Global North
By William R. Polk
Source Netgalley
Publication date 9th January 2018
Polk has reported from many global hotspots during the course of his career. This book is his attempt to begin to put the pieces together. He explores the relationship between the ‘Muslim East’ and the ‘Christian West’. From the Moguls to the modern day, it spans the Muslim/Arab world; from Africa to the ‘Middle East’, from China to Europe, and all stops in between. It looks at this history in order to explain the present day. Polk looks at the tensions that exist between ‘East and West’, analysing the horrors of colonialism and the seeds of today’s terrorism, The book explores the origins of many of today’s most active terrorist organisations. This is a long book, a hard read that may intimidate the casual reader, but it's worth the effort.
caidyn's review
3.0
This review and others can be found at BW Book Reviews
Thanks to Netgalley and Yale University Press for the advanced copy! This did not influence my opinions whatsoever.
First thing's first. I didn't technically finish it. I got super close to the end of part three before I decided that, right now, it was enough for me and that I had formulated my opinion very early on. I simply did not need to keep reading the book to find out more.
It's a very dense book. I mean, it takes you from pre-Islamic history (because you have to get background on exactly why Muhammad's message was radical) to current times. That's a lot of history. And since Islam spread globally, that is a lot of countries, areas, and names. It's dense. It's difficult. It's a journey.
And, I couldn't get through it because I was finding myself confused. That's not a ding on the book, per say. It's just that you have to concentrate very hard on it to glean the information, keep names straight, and really understand what was going on. It's not an easy book. While I wasn't looking for one, I didn't expect it to exactly be like this.
The writing was good. Polk assumed that you knew nothing or next to nothing. I think he had great theses and really backed them up with how many examples he gave, not to mention the depth of analysis he was able to draw from his examples.
However, this book is not for a beginner such as myself. This is a book that you should take months to read and absorb. I didn't have that much time. So, good but a bit too much for me right now.
Thanks to Netgalley and Yale University Press for the advanced copy! This did not influence my opinions whatsoever.
First thing's first. I didn't technically finish it. I got super close to the end of part three before I decided that, right now, it was enough for me and that I had formulated my opinion very early on. I simply did not need to keep reading the book to find out more.
It's a very dense book. I mean, it takes you from pre-Islamic history (because you have to get background on exactly why Muhammad's message was radical) to current times. That's a lot of history. And since Islam spread globally, that is a lot of countries, areas, and names. It's dense. It's difficult. It's a journey.
And, I couldn't get through it because I was finding myself confused. That's not a ding on the book, per say. It's just that you have to concentrate very hard on it to glean the information, keep names straight, and really understand what was going on. It's not an easy book. While I wasn't looking for one, I didn't expect it to exactly be like this.
The writing was good. Polk assumed that you knew nothing or next to nothing. I think he had great theses and really backed them up with how many examples he gave, not to mention the depth of analysis he was able to draw from his examples.
However, this book is not for a beginner such as myself. This is a book that you should take months to read and absorb. I didn't have that much time. So, good but a bit too much for me right now.
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