From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting the Middle East

by Bernard Lewis

Overview

Bernard Lewis is recognized around the globe as one of the leading authorities on Islam. Hailed as "the world's foremost Islamic scholar" (Wall Street Journal), as "a towering figure among experts on the culture and religion of the Muslim world" (Baltimore Sun), and as "the doyen of Middle Eastern studies" (New York Times), Lewis is nothing less than a national treasure, a trusted voice that politicians, journalists, historians, and the general public have all turned to for insight into the Middle East. Now, this revered authority has brought together writings and lectures that he has written over four decades, featuring his reflections on Middle Eastern history and foreign affairs, the Iranian Revolution, the state of Israel, the writing of history, and much more. The essays cover such urgent and compelling topics as "What Saddam Wrought," "Deconstructing Osama and His Evil Appeal," "The Middle East, Westernized Despite Itself," "The Enemies of God," and "Can Islam be Secularized?" The collection ranges from two English originals of articles published before only in foreign languages, to previously unpublished writings, to his highly regarded essays from publications such as Foreign Affairs and The New York Review of Books. With more than fifty pieces in all, plus a new introduction to the book by Lewis, this is a valuable collection for everyone interested in the Middle East. Here then is a rich repository of wisdom on one of the key areas of the modern world--a wealth of profound reflections on Middle Eastern history, culture, politics, and current events.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198038634
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/02/2004
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	973 KB

About the Author

Bernard Lewis is Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Emeritus, at Princeton University. His most recent books are The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror and What Went Wrong?, both national bestsellers and the latter a New York Times Notable Book for 2002.

Hometown:

Princeton, New Jersey

Date of Birth:

May 31, 1916

Place of Birth:

London, England

Education:

B.A., University of London, 1936; Diplome des Etudes Semitiques, University of Paris, 1937; Ph.D., University of London,

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	v
	Credits	ix
	Introduction	1
Part 1	Past History
1	An Islamic Mosque	15
2	From Babel to Dragomans	18
3	Middle East Feasts	33
4	Iran in History	43
5	Palimpsests of Jewish History: Christian, Muslim and Secular Diaspora	53
6	Some Notes on Land, Money and Power in Medieval Islam	60
7	An Interpretation of Fatimid History	66
8	Propaganda in the Pre-Modern Middle East: A Preliminary Classification	79
9	Monarchy in the Middle East	92
10	Religion and Murder in the Middle East	100
11	The Mughals and the Ottomans	108
12	Europe and the Turks: The Civilization of the Ottoman Empire	115
13	Europe and Islam: Muslim Perceptions and Experience	121
14	Cold War and Detente in the Sixteenth Century	135
15	From Pilgrims to Tourists: A Survey of Middle Eastern Travel	137
16	The British Mandate for Palestine in Historical Perspective	152
17	Pan-Arabism	156
18	The Emergence of Modern Israel	181
19	Orientalist Notes on the Soviet-United Arab Republic Treaty of 27 May 1971	188
20	A Taxonomy of Group Hatred	196
21	Islam and the West	205
Part 2	Current History
22	The Middle East, Westernized Despite Itself	221
23	The Middle East in World Affairs	232
24	Friends and Enemies: Reflections After a War	240
25	Return to Cairo	247
26	Middle East at Prayer	265
27	At the United Nations	269
28	The Anti-Zionist Resolution	274
29	Right and Left in Lebanon	284
30	The Shi'a	290
31	Islamic Revolution	299
32	The Enemies of God	313
33	The Roots of Muslim Rage	319
34	The Other Middle East Problems	332
35	Did You Say "American Imperialism"?: Power, Weakness, and Choices in the Middle East	343
36	The Law of Islam	351
37	Not Everybody Hates Saddam	354
38	Mideast States: Pawns No Longer in Imperial Games	357
39	What Saddam Wrought	360
40	The "Sick Man" of Today Coughs Closer to Home	364
41	Revisiting the Paradox of Modern Turkey	367
42	We Must Be Clear	369
43	Deconstructing Osama and His Evil Appeal	371
44	Targeted by a History of Hatred	374
45	A Time for Toppling	378
Part 3	About History
46	In Defense of History	383
47	First-Person Narrative in the Middle East	396
48	Reflections on Islamic Historiography	405
49	The Ottoman Archives: A Source for European History	414
50	History Writing and National Revival in Turkey	421
51	On Occidentalism and Orientalism	430

Editorial Reviews

This collection of 54 articles and reviews appearing over half a century (from 1953 to 2003), plus three pieces never before published, covers a wide range of subjects, arranged under the rubrics "Past History," "Current History," and "About History." This might suggest a grab-bag of random writings fit only for academics. Not so. Almost all are relevant to contemporary concerns. And since Lewis has emerged as a leading molder of U.S. public opinion on Middle Eastern matters (and is generally believed to have influenced Bush administration policies since September 11), there is added interest in tracking this scholar.

It is revealing that Lewis chose not to arrange these writings in chronological order, as if to suggest that his interpretations, if not timeless, at least have a long shelf life. In fact, his writings do reveal a remarkable consistency of thought over the decades. His arguments, ever forceful and subtle (a rare accomplishment in itself), are not easily summarized and are too many to list. Suffice it to note that included here is his famous "The Roots of Muslim Rage," which, when it first appeared in 1990, introduced the watchword "clash of civilizations" later brandished by Samuel Huntington. His several articles in support of the U.S. war of choice against Iraq (and the whole notion of an "axis of evil") reveal a Lewis who is more forceful than subtle.

Foreign Affairs

"Lewis has long been considered the West's leading interpreter of Mideast culture and history, and this collection only solidifies his reputation. His writing is erudite but not dry; he venerates the facts of history while remaining fully alive to their echoes and implications in the present."—National Review

"Historian Lewis has been one of the most prolific modern writers on the Middle East and Islam. Throughout his long career, he has made many of the intricacies of Middle Eastern history and Islamic civilization accessible to a broad audience of informed readers and academics in the West. In this latest book, Lewis offers a panorama of more than 50 previously published writings spanning more than four decades of academic life. Chapters in this volume come from scholarly publications, lectures, popular publications, and newspaper columns. The smorgasbord of topics covered includes medieval Islamic history, European encounters with the people of the Middle East, Pan-Arabism, Islam and the West, Ottoman History, and the contemporary developments in the Middle East and Muslim-Western relations."—Library Journal

"For more than four decades, Lewis has been one of the most respected scholars and prolific writers on the history and politics of the Middle East. In this compilation of more than 50 journal articles and essays, he displays the full range of his eloquence, knowledge, and insight regarding this pivotal and volatile region.... For both scholars and layreaders, the writings of Lewis remain essential."—Booklist

"As this collection of writings and speeches from the last 40 years demonstrates once again, Lewis is probably the world's most erudite scholar of the Middle East. The pieces cover virtually all aspects of the region—from medieval Turkish history to the roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and everything in between. Food for thought abounds.... Reflects the thinking of a profound mind."—Publishers Weekly

"The press of world events has transformed Bernard Lewis into the most public sort of intellectual, well into the emeritus phase of his scholarly career. His 2002 study, What Went Wrong?, shed much welcome, if controversial, light on the divergent courses of Islamic and Western civilization at a moment when the question could not be more urgent. Now in a new collection of essays, From Babel to Dragomans, Lewis teases out the implications of his earlier argument in a wide range of settings, from traditional Middle Eastern feasts and rituals to the anti-Western propaganda campaigns of al Qaeda."—Chris Lehmann, The Washington Post

"At his best, Lewis can be witty, playful, and polymathically erudite.... A wonderful piece on 'Middle East Feasts,' published in these pages, gives him full opportunity to show off his astonishing linguistic range."—New York Review of Books

Praise for Bernard Lewis's What Went Wrong?:

15 Weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List

"Remarkably succinct.... A concise study of the Muslim world's responses to the West and of its own long, sad decline.... It offers a long view in the midst of so much short-term and confusing punditry. Lewis has done us all-Muslim and non-Muslim alike-a remarkable service."—The New York Times Book Review

"Inestimable...replete with the exceptional historical insight that one has come to expect from the world's foremost Islamic scholar."—The Wall Street Journal
"A timely and provocative contribution to the current ragin debate about the tensions between the West and the Islamic world."—BusinessWeek
"No scholar of Islam in the Western world has more thoroughly earned the respect of generalists and academics alike than Bernard Lewis."—Baltimore Sun
"Lewis's sharp-edged commentaries on what history means to Muslims...are what make him so much the scholar of the hour."—U. S. News and World Report
"A provocative and suggestive review of Islamic response to ideas and practices of the Christian West.... Lewis has given us a thoughtful treatment of the historical backdrop of the September 11 tragedy."—The Houston Chronicle
"For newcomers to the subject...Bernard Lewis is the man."—Time

From the Publisher