Islam in European Thought - Softcover

Hourani, Albert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521421209 ISBN 13: 9780521421201

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1992

Synopsis

This collection of essays focuses on the relation between European and Islamic thought and culture from the late eighteenth to the twentieth century. Albert Hourani explores the development of ideas about Islam in European thought and discusses the individual writers who played an important part in informing and communicating an image of Islamic history and civilisation. He also examines some of the reactions of the Islamic world to the powerful new ideas of European civilization including the first Arabic encyclopedia and translation of Homer.

About this title

Book Description:

Louis Massignon, H.A.R. Gibb, Marshall Hodgsons and T.E. Lawrence are discussed in a collection of essays that focuses on the relationship between European and Islamic thought and culture from the late eighteenth to the twentieth century.

Review:

"[Hourani] has an understanding of both western and Arab-Muslim intellectual traditions unmatched in his generation. His writing is elegant and judicious, marked by a passionate concern to get as near to the truth as possible....Wise voices like Hourani's, uncontaminated by religiosity or lust for power, are especially needed at this time." New Statesman and Society

"The new collection of his essays, Islam in European Thought, once more indicates those remarkable qualities and is in continuity with his previous writing; nevertheless, at the same time this new publication provides some insights and fresh reflections which are particularly timely and worthy of attention." Andrej Kreutz, Arab Studies Quarterly

"This history of an evolving European...study of Islam is one of inclusion: Hourani's enduring legacy may be his dedication to widening the circles of discussion on behalf of Islamic studies, which were in 'danger of being isolated from the mainstreams of academic life.'" Common Knowledge

"...serves as an excellent introduction to his approach to the history of the Middle East since the beginning of the eighteenth century....This book is a fitting conclusion to a career that pointed out some of the ways to transcend both the tradition and its limitations, while also appreciating and benefiting from it." Rashid Khalidi, Journal of Modern History

"...Albert Hourani's Islam in European Thought is a passionate, magnificent, and elegant piece of writing. It deserves to be read carefully and attentively." Islamic Studies

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0521421209
• ISBN 13: 9780521421201
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 212