- Paperback: 126 pages
- Publisher: Oxford University Press (Jan 1 1995)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0195102835
- ISBN-13: 978-0195102833
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13.6 x 0.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 100 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,978,454 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From School Library Journal
YA-This brief book is comprised of three lectures delivered on the 500th anniversary of Columbus's voyages. The first chapter explores the connections between Christianity and Islam in their respective quest for domination. The second discusses treatment of the Jews and others by Christians, and describes the positive response of the Muslim world to this abuse. The final lecture discusses the Western treatment of the "discovered" lands and peoples. Lewis's Western orientation and definitive knowledge of Eastern life and religion lead him to some unusual deductions that are well thought out and presented. While not everyone will agree with his ideas, they will provoke discussion, and in the process YAs will gain an overview of the background of Christian and Islamic dissension and a new view of the Inquisition and Western exploration. There are extensive notes. This short course in the Age of Discovery should prove a useful tool.
Susan H. Woodcock, King's Park Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Susan H. Woodcock, King's Park Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Academe's reigning Orientalist examines 1492, and all that. Lewis last entered the library lists with his essay collection Islam and the West (1993), and this pithy lecture (delivered in 1993) again displays a coruscating mind at work. The focus is Columbus, Ferdinand, and Isabella's Catholic reconquest of the Moors and the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. Since the quincentennial of these occasions inspired "penitence and self-flagellation [by] those who could be identified with the perpetrators," Lewis offers a view on a continental scale of the Christian/Islamic rivalry and the case for appreciating the eventual expansion of Europe, while acknowledging its attendant evils. Lewis dislikes the modish view that misunderstanding causes geopolitical hostility; the two universalist religions understood each other only too well, as he writes about events of the millennium, until the Turks failed to take Vienna in 1683. Though this essay defends the globalization of Western concepts that began in 1492, its viewpoint rests on a sympathetic understanding of Islam, and its absorption of the expelled Jews, born of lifelong study. An erudite contribution to the issues of multiculturalism. Gilbert Taylor
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
FOR MOST AMERICANS and Europeans, as well as many others who learned history from American or European teachers or textbooks, 1492 was chiefly memorable as the year in which Columbus discovered America. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
FOR MOST AMERICANS and Europeans, as well as many others who learned history from American or European teachers or textbooks, 1492 was chiefly memorable as the year in which Columbus discovered America. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Islamic Civilization outflanked,
By M. A. ZAIDI "Ali Zaidi" (Karachi; Pakistan) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Cultures in Conflict: Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the Age of Discovery (Paperback)
Bernard Lewis the world's leading authorities on the Middle East discusses the eclipse of the Middle East in their last three centuries in power and how their decline is still felt to this day. For many centuries, the world of Islam was in the forefront of human achievement--the foremost military and economic power in the world, the leader in the arts and sciences of civilization. Christian Europe, a remote land beyond its northwestern frontier, was seen as an outer darkness of barbarism and unbelief from which there was nothing to learn or to fear. And then everything changed, as the previously despised West won victory after victory, first in the battlefield and the marketplace, then in almost every aspect of public and even private life. In his three essays Conquest, Expulsion, Discovery he examines how the Islamic world was transgressed from conquers to conquered. Lewis bases the expansion on three significant areas weaponry; education and navigation. The Europeans gained significant advances in the field of weaponry; with the discovery of gun powder in the Far East. The Christian traders bypassed the middle east and bought this product home where it was adapted to deadly fire arms. In 1492 the Spanish monarchs captured Granada, the last Muslim stronghold on the peninsula, and also expelled the Jews. The Jews got with them the knowledge of printing; but the rulers fearful of desecration allowed the Jews to publish books in any language except Arabic. This caused a significant regression in the transfer of knowledge to the masses; which the West took the maximum gain of. Navigation was a major contributor for the economic development of Europe. The European ships were built for the Atlantic and were therefore bigger and stronger than those of the Muslims , built for the Mediterranean. The muslims also had the Atlantic coastline along Morocco. One obvious answer for the absence of Atlantic faring muslim ships were for the lack of ports on the Atlantic and also Morocco had the Atlantic to them selves in comparison the Europeans had to compete with one another. The sea faring enabled the West to gain the riches from America and colonize it. Islamic civilization was eventually overshadowed by the achievements of European Christendom, and much of the Muslim world came under the direct or indirect domination of the West.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good, but brief, look at 1492.,
This review is from: Cultures in Conflict: Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the Age of Discovery (Paperback)
Having heard Lewis described as both "the" expert on the Middle East, and a stooge for the Turkish government, I was a little hesitant to start reading this book. I was pleasantly surprised by Lewis' look at the "other" important events contemporaneous with Columbus' 1942 discoveries. This is a tiny book, actually the transcript of a lecture series, easily read in a day. Lewis takes a different perspective in looking at the history of the time, much of which will already be familiar, and the pivotal nature of the events of the late 1400's, of which the discovery of the New World was but one.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews) 23 of 25 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Islamic Civilization outflanked,
By M. A. ZAIDI "Ali Zaidi" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Cultures in Conflict: Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the Age of Discovery (Paperback)
Bernard Lewis the world's leading authorities on the Middle East discusses the eclipse of the Middle East in their last three centuries in power and how their decline is still felt to this day. For many centuries, the world of Islam was in the forefront of human achievement--the foremost military and economic power in the world, the leader in the arts and sciences of civilization. Christian Europe, a remote land beyond its northwestern frontier, was seen as an outer darkness of barbarism and unbelief from which there was nothing to learn or to fear. And then everything changed, as the previously despised West won victory after victory, first in the battlefield and the marketplace, then in almost every aspect of public and even private life. In his three essays Conquest, Expulsion, Discovery he examines how the Islamic world was transgressed from conquers to conquered. Lewis bases the expansion on three significant areas weaponry; education and navigation. The Europeans gained significant advances in the field of weaponry; with the discovery of gun powder in the Far East. The Christian traders bypassed the middle east and bought this product home where it was adapted to deadly fire arms. In 1492 the Spanish monarchs captured Granada, the last Muslim stronghold on the peninsula, and also expelled the Jews. The Jews got with them the knowledge of printing; but the rulers fearful of desecration allowed the Jews to publish books in any language except Arabic. This caused a significant regression in the transfer of knowledge to the masses; which the West took the maximum gain of. Navigation was a major contributor for the economic development of Europe. The European ships were built for the Atlantic and were therefore bigger and stronger than those of the Muslims , built for the Mediterranean. The muslims also had the Atlantic coastline along Morocco. One obvious answer for the absence of Atlantic faring muslim ships were for the lack of ports on the Atlantic and also Morocco had the Atlantic to them selves in comparison the Europeans had to compete with one another. The sea faring enabled the West to gain the riches from America and colonize it. Islamic civilization was eventually overshadowed by the achievements of European Christendom, and much of the Muslim world came under the direct or indirect domination of the West. 15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great intro or primer to Islamic Studies,
By Gabriel E. Borlean - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Cultures in Conflict: Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the Age of Discovery (Paperback)
This booklet (a compilation of three speeches given by the author) is a fast and easy read about the state of 3 world cultures (Islam, Jewdaism, Christianity) around 1492 (especially as seen in the Iberian peninsula - Spain, and subsequent world exploration).It is a great intro (primer) to understanding how the Christian, Muslim and Jewish cultures affected each other and evolved in the late 15th century and into the 16th century. The analysis of how advanced the Muslim culture was and why it stopped advancing and making significant discoveries post-1492 is the gem of this treatise. Bernard Lewis, a widely read British historian and a Near Eastern Studies Emeritus professor at Princeton University, has written over 20 books about the Muslim world and history of Islam. I would recommend this for anyone wanting to understand the historical context of the start of deterioration and decline of Muslim influence on world events, and the stagnation of Muslim technical and cultural advancements. The author's conclusion is that today's cultural divide between the West and the Islam world are grounded in the historical, cultural, and social developments of late 15th century. This book offers very little if any religious theological analysis. 17 of 21 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good, but brief, look at 1492.,
By "jthurman_99" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Cultures in Conflict: Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the Age of Discovery (Paperback)
Having heard Lewis described as both "the" expert on the Middle East, and a stooge for the Turkish government, I was a little hesitant to start reading this book. I was pleasantly surprised by Lewis' look at the "other" important events contemporaneous with Columbus' 1942 discoveries. This is a tiny book, actually the transcript of a lecture series, easily read in a day. Lewis takes a different perspective in looking at the history of the time, much of which will already be familiar, and the pivotal nature of the events of the late 1400's, of which the discovery of the New World was but one.
|
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > History > Europe > England
- Books > History > Historical Study > Civilization & Culture
- Books > History > Middle East
- Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences
- Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Genetics
- Books > Religion & Spirituality > Islam
- Books > Science > Evolution > Genetics
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
