© Columbia University Press
The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization
Paper, 192 pages,
ISBN: 978-0-231-12797-4
$23.95
/ £11.95
September, 2004
Cloth, 192 pages,
ISBN: 978-0-231-12796-7
$75.00
/ £44.00
"Richard Bulliet's The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization re-examines most of the pieties of the West about the Muslim world and Islamic politics (and about the West itself) and finds them not only wrong but wrongly conceived. . . . He argues that modern European and Muslim history are deeply intertwined and that one cannot be understood in isolation from the other, thereby launching a profound challenge to teachers, historians and policy-makers." — Juan Cole, The International Journal of Middle East StudiesUniversity of Michigan
"[An] insightful book about Islam and Muslims that actually provides hope for the future. . . . this book is a quick, informative, and encouraging read." — Publishers Weekly
"A clearly written book, aimed at the general reader...requires a place on the library shelf" — Steve Young, Library Journal
"Presents a persuasive case for viewing Islam and the West . . . [a]brilliant new book" — Emran Qureshi, Toronto Globe and Mail
"Seeks to bridge a gap between Islam and the West . . . His solution is to try to patch things up by emphasizing all that Islam and Christianity have in common." — Daniel Lazare, The Nation
"As Bulliet writes ... there is a far better case for 'Islamo-Christian civilization' than there is for a clash of civilizations." — Washington Monthly
"Offers a rich lode of penetrating insights." — L. Carl Brown, Foreign Affairs
"A positive and challenging proposal, underscoring the importance of the phases we use in defining our world." — Future Survey
"Obviously, this is an important book with the important proposal to familiarize everyone with the term "Islam-Christian civilization". Let us take heed." — Murad Wilfried Hofmann, The Muslim World Book Review
"It deserves the widest possible readership, addressing as it does with wit and insight one of the most freighted issues of our times." — Malise Ruthven, Times Literary Supplement
"Bulliet's ideas are collectively imaginative and a major contribution... No reader will see the history either of Christendom or Islam in quite the same way." — Ronald Davis, Domes
"Great scholarship and vision... Bulliet offers rare insights in the Islamic and the (post)-Christian worlds." — Johannes J. G. Jansen, International History Review
"An excellent touchstone... this is not a volume that should be ignored." — John J. Curry, Ph.D., Digest of Middle East Studies
"[A] wise and wonderful book." — Howard J. Dooley, Journal of World History
"Though Islamo-Christian civilization may be a neologism, it is a creative key term that this book will make into a household word. Since 9/11 Americans have been subjected to a relentless parade of experts, from missionaries to historians to special interest advocates, all of whom warn about the difference and danger of Islam. Richard Bulliet reveals the flimsiness of their arguments. Against Samuel Huntington's "clash of civilizations" and Bernard Lewis's "What Went Wrong?," Bulliet sees a future in which the screeds of American Islamophobes and the violent dreams of Muslim extremists both are eclipsed by respect and popular following for leaders of tolerant and peaceful conscience. They are the key to our collective future as members of Islamo-Christian civilization." — Bruce B. Lawrence, Professor of Islamic Studies, Duke University
"Only a historian as great as Richard Bulliet could offer such new daring insights into the Islamic-Christian encounter. After this book, it will no longer be possible to consider with any degree of seriousness the pop philosophy of a "clash of civilizations." All those who care about the future of the Muslim world-US relationship will do well to read this brilliant book." — Mustapha Tlili, Founder and Director, Dialogues: Islamic World-U.S.-The West, World Policy Institute, New School