Muslim Revolt: A Journey Through Political Islam

"We fail to understand Islam," writes Roger Hardy in the introduction to this book, "and we are paying a high price for our failure." The Muslim Revolt explains, in layman's language, a phenomenon that still seems to madden and perplex both the public and the policy-makers. In setting out to demystify Islamism and the forces that drive it, Hardy suggests that for the last two hundred years Muslims have been in revolt against Western domination--and against the failures and disappointments of modernisation. The book takes the form of a journey. Drawing on his travels and encounters as a journalist over the last thirty years, the author explains the political role of Islam in particular countries and regions--Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, south-east Asia, Europe--while at the same time telling the story of Islamism from its origins in the era of European colonialism to the emergence of Al-Qaeda and the global jihadists of today. In a challenging conclusion, Hardy warns that without a subtler grasp of Islamism and its discontents, the West will lose its much-vaunted battle for Muslim "hearts and minds."

About the Author :
Roger Hardy has been a Middle East and Islamic affairs analyst with the BBC World Service for over twenty years. He has made a series of radio programmes about Muslims in the Middle East, Europe and south Asia, and is a regular contributor to the Economist, International Affairs and the New Statesman.

Review :
"Succinct and readable, this account demonstrates the regional and ideological diversity of political Islam even while explaining Muslims' malaise vis-à-vis the West."--L. Carl Brown, Foreign Affairs "Demystifying Islam, understanding Islamism as well as the forces that drive it."--The Economist "This admirably concise book by an experienced journalist takes us on a vivid journey through political Islam's different national and regional contexts-from Indonesia to Europe-and considers how less hostile relations between the West and Islam might be achieved. Roger Hardy successfully avoids superficial and stereotypical renderings and makes effective and informative use of direct quotations by political Islamists-a rare and difficult feat."--John Chalcraft, London School of Economics "A sensitive, well-informed, and subtle reading of the Islamic revival."--Bernard Haykel, Princeton University "Accessible and authoritative. It is hard to imagine a more reliable guide across the varied and complex terrain of political Islam."--Peter Mandaville, George Mason University, and author of Global Political Islam "No journalist has studied the Islamic world more widely, for longer, or more thoughtfully than Roger Hardy. No author has packed more wisdom into such a short, clear, and readable book."--Edward Mortimer, Oxford University "The first book you should read if you want to discover and decipher the implications of political Islam."--Christopher Dickey, Middle East editor, Newsweek