This book presents a rounded picture of Islam, from current issues of fundamentalism, to its culture and art.

Islamic peoples account for one-fifth of the world's population and yet there is widespread misunderstanding in the West about Islam. Francis Robinson and his team set out to address this, revealing with the help of sumptuous illustration, insight, and expertise, the complex and sometimes contrary nature of Muslim culture. As well as taking on the issues uppermost in everyone's minds, such as the role of religious and political fundamentalism, they demonstrate the importance of commerce, literacy and learning, Islamic art, the effects of immigration, exodus, and conquest, and the roots of current crises in the Middle East, Bosnia, and the Gulf. Throughout, emphasis is placed on the interaction between Islam and the West, from the first Latin translations of the Quran to the fatwa on Salman Rushdie, to dismantle our impression of Islam as a monolithic culture.

Foreword Ira M Lapidus
Preface
Introduction Francis Robinson
Part I: 1. The rise of Islam in the world Patricia Crone
2. The emergence of the Islamic world system, 1000-1500 Robert Irwin
3. The Islamic world system in the age of European expansion Steven Dale
4. The Islamic world in the era of Western domination, 1800 to the present Sarah Ansari
Part II: 5. The economy in Muslim societies K. N. Chaudhuri
6. The ordering of Muslim societies Basim Musallam
7. Knowledge, its transmission and the making of Muslim societies Francis Robinson
8. Artistic expressions of Muslim societies Stephen Vernoit
Conclusion Francis Robinson
Rulers of the Islamic World
Glossary
Bibliography
Picture acknowledgements
Index.