The "Great Game" in the 19th century was the battle between Russia and Britain for influence in Central Asia and for control of the land-routes to India, the "Jewel in the Crown". "The Great Game, Mark II", just beginning, is the struggle between Islamic fundamentalism and the West (characterized respectively by Iran and Turkey) for dominance in the six newly-independent Central Muslim republics of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kirghizia and Kazakhstan. (Of these, Kazakhstan - nearly as large as India - possesses hundreds of strategic and tactical nuclear weapons. The Muslim fundamentalists' recent electoral success in Algeria (subsequently suppressed) raises the prospect of fundamentalism holding sway from the Atlas Mountains to Indonesia. It is vital to understand the context in which the Ankara-Tehran contest to shape the future of Central Asia - a region of immense strategic significance - is developing as a proxy struggle between the West and militant Islam. Dilip Hiro has travelled to the new Muslim states (as well as Turkey and Iran) and interviewed politicians, religious leaders and writers of all descriptions. His book of analysis and reportage is a contribution to understanding one of the central political issues in the post-communist world.

Between Marx and Muhammad: The changing face of Central Asia

History

HIRO, DILIP

World

Harpercollins

Britain's greatest religious historian chronicles the rise and rise of fundamentalism. One of the most potent forces bedevilling the modern world is religious extremism, and the need to understand it has never been greater. Focusing in detail on Protestant fundamentalism in the United States, Jewish fundamentalism from sixteenth century Spain onwards and Muslim fundamentalism over the last four hundred years, Armstrong examines the patterns that underlie fundamentalism. These evolve from the clash between the conservative pre-modern mind that is governed by a love of myth, and the progressive rational society that relishes change. Fundamentalists view the contemporary world with horror, rejecting its claims to truth, and a state of war now exists over the future of our culture. They are not terrorists, rather, they are innovative, existing in a symbiotic relationship with an aggressive modernity, each urging the other on to greater excess. The Battle for God is original in its thesis and in its understanding; as a history of religious ideas it is fascinating, and as an explanation of one of the most destabilizing forces at large in the world today it is extraordinary.

The Battle for God

Religion & Spirituality

ARMSTRONG, KAREN

Christian Books & Bibles

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

An examination of the ways in which the concept of holy war - the jihad of the East and the crusade of the West - came to acquire the symbolic power it has, and how this still affects the modern world. It shows how the ideals of the crusade permeated Western attitudes, traditions and beliefs, and how this influence still persists today. It discusses the modernity or otherwise of today's Islamic fundamentalist movements and the meaning they give to the concept of jihad. It argues that Christianity has never been a pacifist religion and that the institution of the crusade was central to the policies, prestige and world view of the papacy and many European states. It reveals how present-day Islamic reformers have actually borrowed from the vocabulary of fundamentalism from Western sources, while maintaining their faithfulness to their own traditions and discusses the ways in which they have interpreted the idea of holy war. Above all, it investigates the reasons behind the fear which Islamic fundamentalism excites in the West and warns against allowing views that ultimately derive from 11th-century propoganda to infuence us today.

God of Battles: Holy Wars of Christianity and Islam

PETER PARTNER

Readings in the Qur'an (English and Arabic Edition)

Reference

CRAGG, Kenneth

Encyclopedias & Subject Guides

Harpercollins College Div

The Call of the Minaret

Kenneth Cragg

Collins

A contemporary English translation of the Arabic holy book which brought the sacred words of Allah to the Muslims

Readings in the Qur'an: Selected and Translated

Cardinal Basil Hume has spent 50 years as a Benedictine monk and, to celebrate, this text looks at the man, his achievements and his vocation. Written by some of the Cardinal's closest friends and associates, it offers an insight into the life and work of the highly respected leader of Britain's 5 million Catholics. Contributors include Sister Wendy who shares the Cardinal's devotion to the contemplative life, Sister Lavinia Byrne who is an outspoken liberal and a regular presenter of "Thought for the Day" on Radio 4, and the recently converted controversial MP Anne Widdecombe. Priests include the progressive Cardinal Carlo Martini of Milan who is tipped to be the next Pope, Cardinal Cachal Daly of Armagh and Father Timothy Radcliffe who is Master of the Dominicans and a likely successor to Cardinal Hume. Contributions are also be made by Lord Longford, Clifford Longley and several other experts on Basil Hume.

Basil Hume

Carolyn Butler

Islam

Fount

The Aga Khans have reigned as one of the 20th century's most extravagant lineages. The family--descendeds from Mohammed--owns homes and horse stables all over the world, and sits as the spiritual head of a sect of 15 million Muslims. Anne Edwards tells the Aga Khans story by focusing on three generations--the current Aga Khan, his father and his grandfather. These are men who lives are those of fairy tales. They live in lavish surroundings, are notorious in their pursuit of women and throw outrageous parties. Ripe material for a biography, and Edwards delivers it well.

Throne of Gold: Lives of the Aga Khans

ANNE EDWARDS

Rumi: Hidden Music

A breathtaking never before translated collection of poems by Rumi, one of the world's most mystical teachers. These beautiful, contemporary new translations combined with gorgeous full color images speak directly to us now. The poems are grouped thematically, and explore the intricacies of love, longing, and the quest for truth and joy with mystical splendor.

Arts & Photography

Mafi, Maryam

Music

Thorsons Pub.

Part memoir, part polenic, it represents the side of Islam that is left out of the daily newspaper. For Asma Hasan being a Muslin is not merely a matter of birth, but a matter of choice.

Why I Am a Muslim: An American Odyssey

Politics & Social Sciences

Hasan, Asma Gull

Social Sciences

Element Books Ltd.

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Islam Books