Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1586488139 ISBN 13: 9781586488130

Publisher: PublicAffairs, 2010

The Western narrative of world history largely omits a whole civilization. Destiny Disrupted tells the history of the world from the Islamic point of view, and restores the centrality of the Muslim perspective, ignored for a thousand years.

In Destiny Disrupted, Tamim Ansary tells the rich story of world history as it looks from a new perspective: with the evolution of the Muslim community at the center. His story moves from the lifetime of Mohammed through a succession of far-flung empires, to the tangle of modern conflicts that culminated in the events of 9/11. He introduces the key people, events, ideas, legends, religious disputes, and turning points of world history, imparting not only what happened but how it is understood from the Muslim perspective.

He clarifies why two great civilizations-Western and Muslim-grew up oblivious to each other, what happened when they intersected, and how the Islamic world was affected by its slow recognition that Europe-a place it long perceived as primitive-had somehow hijacked destiny.

With storytelling brio, humor, and evenhanded sympathy to all sides of the story, Ansary illuminates a fascinating parallel to the world narrative usually heard in the West. Destiny Disrupted offers a vital perspective on world conflicts many now find so puzzling.

About the Author:

Tamim Ansary is the author of the memoir West of Kabul, East of New York, co-author with Farah Ahmadi of the New York Times bestseller The Other Side of the Sky, and has been a major contributing writer to several secondary school history textbooks. Ansary is director of the San Francisco Writers Workshop.

From AudioFile:

This is the audiobook about Islam you've been waiting for. Ansary's presentation of Islamic history, ideas, and values, explained from an American point of view, makes clear material that can seem opaque in a lengthy textbook or lecture series. Ansary's strong, warm voice adds enormously to his powerful discourse. His matter-of-fact tone prevents the listener from being overwhelmed by his apparently effortless authority regarding the early Khalifa, Mongol dynasties, Liebnitz, and 9/11. His slight Afghan accent makes his presentation more personal. Only the numerous, and absolutely necessary, Arabic words can be a challenge for the listener. F.C. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine