Islam in history : ideas, people, and events in the Middle East

From the first expansion of Islam to the exploits of Saddam Hussein, Middle Eastern society has been fatefully involved with the West. This revised and updated collection of essays by a leading Western expert on Islam and the Middle East gives essential background to the present Middle Eastern conflicts and their interaction, through mutual misunderstanding, with Western conceptions. From the first expansion of Islam to the exploits of Saddam Hussein, Middle Eastern society has been fatefully involved with the West. This revised and updated collection of essays by a Western expert on Islam and the Middle East gives valuable background information in relation to the present Middle Eastern conflicts and their interaction, through mutual misunderstanding, with Western conceptions. This collection of essays, written by the foremost Western expert in Islamic studies, gives essential background on present Middle Eastern conflicts with the West, and how this religion, from its first expansion to the exploits of Saddam Hussein, has been fatefully involved with the Western world.