Book Description
"Writing has been of Great Use to me in the Course of my Life," Benjamin Franklin said in his famous Autobiography. With characteristically calculated understatement, he attributed his enormous and varied successes to "my having learnt a little to scribble."
This collection of Franklin's works begins with letters sent from London (1757-1775) describing the events and diplomacy preceding the Revolutionary War. The volume also contains political satires, bagatelles, pamphlets, and letters written in Paris (1776-1785), where he represented the revolutionary United States at the court of Louis XVI, as well as his speeches given in the Constitutional Convention and other works written in Philadelphia (1785-1790), including his last published article, a searing satire against slavery.
Also included are the delightfully shrewd prefaces to Poor Richard's Almanack (1733-1758) and their worldly, pungent maxims that have entered our American culture. Finally, the classic Autobiography, Franklin's last word on his greatest literary creation-his own invented personality-is presented here in a new edition, completely faithful to Franklin's manuscript.
A companion volume includes the complete "Silence Dogood" series, "Busy-Body" essays, and a generous selection of his early writings, including letters to the press, satires, and pamphlets.
Customer Reviews:
The second volume of essential writings by one of our essential revolutionaries.......2005-11-25
This fine volume from the wonderful Library of America, is a collection of the great Benjamin Franklin's later writings. It is the second volume of what used to be a single huge book from the LOA. This volume begins with Franklin's letters from his time as a diplomat in London, and then his pamphlets, political satires, and other writings when he represented our Revolutionary Government from 1776-1785 from Paris at the doomed court of Louis VI. His writings from the Constitutional Convention and writings from Philadelphia after his return to the United States are also included. Probably the most popular items included will be the Preface and Maxims of the Poor Richard's Almanac and the FOUR parts of his autobiography. Franklin is simply an amazing man.
Benjamin Franklin is one of the great icons of the American Founding. He is truly one of the essential men who built our nation and deserves every praise we can heap on him. When we see images of the founders, they are all shown as old men, not how old they were in 1776. Franklin was really a generation older than most of the firebrands who led the Revolution. He was seventy when he signed the Declaration of Independence (John Adams was 41, George Washington 44, and Thomas Jefferson 33 on July 4, 1776) and eighty-one when he signed our Constitution as a member of the delegation from Pennsylvania. He was an amazing man. He was a successful printer, inventor, philanthropist, revolutionary, diplomat, and all around student of the world.
This book is interesting to dip into and read just those portions that interest you, as well as reading its more than 800 pages front to back. It has great notes on the text that provide contextual and translation help as well as sources, a most interesting chronology of Franklin's long and productive life, and an index.
This certainly is a must have for your shelf on the history of America's Founding.
Book Description
The words Abraham Lincoln spoke at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg comprise perhaps the most famous speech in history. It has been quoted by popes, presidents, prime ministers, and revolutionaries around the world. From "Four score and seven years ago..." to "government of the people, by the people, for the people," Lincoln's words echo in the American conscience. Many books have been written about the Gettysburg Address and yet, as Lincoln scholar Gabor Boritt shows, there is much that we don't know about the speech. In The Gettysburg Gospel he reconstructs what really happened in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on November 19, 1863. Boritt tears away a century of myths, lies, and legends to give us a clear understanding of the greatest American's greatest speech.
In the aftermath of the bloodiest battle ever fought in North America, the little town of Gettysburg was engulfed in the worst man-made disaster in U.S. history: close to 21,000 wounded; very few doctors; heroic women coping in houses, barns, and churches turned into hospitals; dead horses and mules rotting in farmyards and fields; and at least 7,000 dead soldiers who had to be dug up, identified, and reburied. This was where Lincoln had to come to explain why the horror of war must continue.
Planning America's first national cemetery revitalized the traumatized people of Gettysburg, but the dedication ceremonies overwhelmed the town. Lincoln was not certain until the last moment whether he could come. But he knew the significance of the occasion and wrote his remarks with care -- the first speech since his inauguration that he prepared before delivering it. A careful analysis of the Address and the public reaction to it form the center of this book. Boritt shows how Lincoln responded to the politics of the time and also clarifies which text he spoke from and how and when he wrote the various versions. Few people initially recognized the importance of the speech; it was frequently and, at times, hilariously misreported. But over the years the speech would grow into American scripture. It would acquire new and broader meanings. It would be better understood, but also misunderstood and misinterpreted to suit beliefs very different from Lincoln's.
The Gettysburg Gospel is based on years of scholarship as well as a deep understanding of Lincoln and of Gettysburg itself. It draws on vital documents essential to appreciating Lincoln's great speech and its evolution into American gospel. This is an indispensable book for anyone interested in the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, or American history.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting, But It Felt Slanted.......2007-09-14
I found this an interesting, but possibly flawed book.
The history and detail was fascinating, as was the examination (and inclusion!) of Everett's speech, of which I'd heard, but had never read. The description of Gettysburg immediately after the battle, and in the days surrounding the dedication ceremony was truly a window into another era.
However, as the book continued, and the instances of "Good, God fearing Republicans, struggling to save the country" and "Bad, pro-slavery/appeasement-minded Democrats not caring about the Union" mounted, I felt I was reading a political text that was slanted to support the current national situation, and not a dispassionate historical examination of the events of a century and a half gone. Other reviewers have mentioned this occurance as an interetsing coincidence. Even though I'm a Republican, I was jarred by the tone.
As a result, my enjoyment of the book was lessened, as was my trust of the text and the author's use selected references.
An interesting book, but too interpretive for my tastes. Read it, but have a pinch of salt ready.
Strange title for a good read.......2007-07-11
It truly is amazing that so many words and books can be written about a speech that is but 272 words long. Gabor Boritt's book is an enjoyable and easy read on Lincoln's most famous speech.
Much of the book deals with the immediate aftermath of the terrible Gettysburg battle with the author painting a vivid picture of the terrible scene which must have greeted the eye on July 4th.
It is interesting that the famous address did not get immediate general approval. Boritt shows that the speech was almost forgotten until the 1880's.
As with most Lincoln supporters, the author attempts to show that the speech was not written on the train to Gettysburg and that Lincoln gave the speech considerable thought. The truth is no one knows, but a good argument can be made for the proposition that Lincoln must have given it little thought prior to the event. Who in their right mind is going to travel from Washington to Gettysburg and DECIDE to present an address of only 272 words. The words came from the heart and from years of experience and empathy. Just as Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech was somewhat spontaneous (although a very similar speech was presented at Cobo Hall, Detroit some weeks previously), there is strong circumstantial evidence that Lincoln put this speech together at short notice.
I have no idea why the book is sub-titled "The Lincoln Speech that Nobody Knows," but Boritt does provide a number of slightly different versions of the speech in the appendix. Most of the differences are minor to put it mildly. The author's description of how the speech initially got little response but grew to be appreciated over time to be a work of genius is well developed.
Paradoxically, the most enjoyable section of the book is the full text of Edward Everett's speech which I read fully for the first time. You can appreciate why Everett was seen as a great orator because of his ability to paint pictures with words although his two hour address can hardly be described as uplifting. Almost all of the speech was taken up with a chronological history of the events at Gettysburg (spoken from memory) and the aging orator failed to properly commend and eulogize the thousands who had given their life on the adjacent battlefield.
The book has copious appendices, bibliography, notes which provide a rich resource for serious students of Lincoln and Gettysburg. Overall, an enjoyable not too studious read on the topic.
Lincoln and the Gettysburg Gospel is a Gem of Exegetical Clarification of the greatest political speech in world history........2007-05-31
The Gettysburg Address was delivered by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863. The battle had been fought in July but now a National Cemetery was to dedicated honoring the Union dead who had died that the United States might live.
What a day it was ! A beautiful autumn crisp with the promise of a warm sky sailing serenly over the sight of the bloodiest batlle in American history. A day when the renowned orator Edward Everett spoke for over two hours drawing analogies between Gettysburg and those men who died to preserve Athenian democracy. Everett gave a detailed account of the battle emphasizing the legitimacy of the Union effort. He also spoke with insight on the superiority of the federal government to which the individual states pledged their loyalty.
And then...after the bands and the songs, the prayers and the cheers were silent the sixteenth President of the United States rose to speak. He had a mild form of smallpox; had lost his son Willie to death in the White House and had a son Tad who was ill back home in Washington DC.
Lincoln spoke his 272 words concluding with his immortal words, "''that the goverment of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth."
Lincoln drew on a lifetime of study to produce this masterpiece. The Declaration of Independence; the oratory of Webster and Clay, Shakespeare and the Bible all played a role in his crafting of the speech. If the Emancipation Proclamation was prose genius then the Gettysburg Address is poetry sublime in its assertion of indivdual freedom and the right of human beings to breathe free air.
The speech was neglected, for the most part, by contemporary press accounts. Only in the 1880s when the movement to reconcile NOrth and South picked up steam did it take on an importance in the American heart that has never been usurped, The GA inspired black fighters for Civil Rights as the twentieth century led to a cry for racial equality in our nation. Men like Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela in South Africa were inspired by Lincoln's words.
Boritt's book is divided into several sections. The first two hundred pages deal with the account of the night and the day Lincoln spent in Gettysburg in 1863. We learn of the horrific battlefield casualties and see closeup the preparations made and the carrying out of the ceremony on November 19th. Other sections deal with the five authentic copies of the Gettysburg Address; the complete text of Edward Everett's two hour oration that day; an extensive bibliography and notes. Professor Boritt also shows us pictures of the drafts as written in longhand by Lincoln.
The book is also a fascinating look into how the Gettysburg Address achieved mythic fame since it was first uttered on that November day. In a moving final chapter we read the address in the context of a 9-11 obervance of the attack on the World Trade Center.
As long as our United States lives we all pray that the Gettysburg Address will be there to inspire us to work for equality and justice for all of our citizens regardless of race, religion or political affiliation.
Boritt is one of the best scholars on the life of Lincoln and the Civil War era. Anyone who teaches the Civil War in the classroom should make use of this outstanding work of scholarship and love.
More Focus Please!.......2007-04-15
Boritt's 'Gettysburg Gospel' is one of the very few Civil War books that I could not get into. Stylistically, this book is way too haphazard and unorganized to be considered one of the best books in the Lincoln cannon. Boritt falls into the trap that Garry Wills fell into in his "Lincoln at Gettysburg." The two authors try to be over-elegant and verbose because their book itself is about one of the greatest triumphs of the English language rather then a singular event. Boritt (and Wills for that matter) would be better to just write in a plain, inelegant fashion without the grossly excessive verbiage which permeates this book. Wills, in all fairness, can get away with it, but the more academic Boritt has a difficult time indeed. For example, Boritt writes early on in describing the dead on the battlefield: "Others even pulled bodies from shallow graves. A weapon is worth a great deal. Who cares who the dead man was? Who was it? Dead." This kind of useless prose brings the momentum of this book down time and time again.
For Civil War enthusiasts themselves, many already knew that Everett went on for a very long time before Lincoln delivered his address. One of the things that surprised me was the lack of analysis of the address itself. That disappointed me because the book was subtitled as: `The Lincoln Speech Nobody Knows." In order to get a fresh analysis that Wills does not offer in his book, the reader will have to turn to the appendix to get the several versions of the address. Overall, more focus and less sentimentality would have made for a leaner, more coherent account of the making of the address and it's meaning through the last 140 years.
Read Wills Instead.......2007-04-08
The main text of this book is a loose, often disjointed accumulation of facts surrounding the dedication of the cemetery. That portion of the book is mostly filler since only a small portion deals with the Address. If that were the whole book, I would give it 2 stars. However, the Appendices, including Everett's full address, all versions of Lincoln's Address, and the scientific evaluations of the relative accuracies of the versions, are very enlightening. Read Wills' Lincoln at Gettysburg for a much more insightful book on the speech itself. Skip the text in this one and go directly to the Appendices.
Book Description
Gabor Boritt has invited nine leading authorities to shed new light on the greatest battle in our history, focusing in particular on the unknown, the controversial, and what might have been. What did the battle do to the people of Gettysburg? What is behind the rise of Joshua Chamberlain to the status of the Hero of the Battle? How did the common soldiers influence the battle? Readers are treated to a fresh account of Pickett's Charge from the rarely-described perspective of the Union soldiers, and to careful new analyses of the battlefield actions of General Ewell and General Daniel Sickles. And throughout the volume, there is much vivid writing, such as a stirring account of the moment when General Winfield Scott Hancock ordered the First Minnesota to "take those colors," sending the Minnesotans into a struggle that would cost most of them their lives but would help save the day for the Union. Offering the insights of America's eminent Civil War scholars, The Gettysburg Nobody Knows provides a marvelously informative reconsideration of this epic event.
Customer Reviews:
Thoughtful Essays on Gettysburg.......2004-02-19
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought from July 1-13, 1863 and ended the Confederacy's second invasion of the North. It was the bloodiest battle fought in North America. (The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest single day.) Although there are many outstanding narrative accounts of the battle, the literature which carefully examines aspects of the battle and their significance is less extensive. Gabor Boritt's collection "The Gettyburg Nobody Knows" (1997) consists of nine essays by outstanding scholars which elucidate the battle and its consequences.
Each essay is accompanied by notes and by comments by each author suggesting further reading. The book derives from presentations at the annual summer Civil War Institute in Gettysburg. Professor Boritt is the Director of the Institute. There is a wonderful tone of scholarship and of the desire to learn that pervades this volume. One of the authors reflects that all the participants in the seminars -- and the readers as well -- are students trying to learn rather than experts with all the answers. This attitude is one that could well be emulated in scholarship and intellectual activity of all kinds. It is a joy to have it presented in this book.
The essays cover a great variety of topics. The first essay by Joseph Glatthaar discusses the role of the common soldier in the Gettysburg campaign and points out how the Confederate Army may have been at once tired, overconfident, and undisciplined in its movement to the North. Glenn LaFantasie follows this essay with a discussion of Joshua Chamberlain, the hero of Little Round Top which endeavors to separate the facts from the myths that have grown around Chamberlain. To my reading, Chamberlain still emerges from the essay as a highly impressive figure.
Harry Pfanz has written three extensive narratives on the Battle of Gettysburg. In this volume, he contributes a slim but succinct essay on the Confederate General Richard Ewell. Pfanz largely exonerates Ewell from the criticism he has suffered in many quarters for failing to advance on Cemetery and Culps Hills on the first day of the battle.
Kent Gramm's essay on the First Minnesota is an outstanding meditation on the hazards and chances of war and of the role of individual responsibility and action. It also has a great deal worthwhile to say about the Generalship of Lee, Meade, Longstreet, and Sickles. This is highly reflective, thoughtful historical writing.
Emory Thomas's essay examines the role of JEB Stuart's cavalry in the battle and the impact of his absence. Unlike many studies, it focuses on the fighting on East Cavalry on the third day and his some insightful thoughts about the importance of that action and why it turned out the way it did.
There are three essays which focus in different ways on the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg and its significance. Carol Reardon is a highly-regarded student of Pickett's Charge. Her essay focuses on the Union side of the line and on the difficulty of separating fact from myth in considering this legendary charge. Matthew Gallman and Susan Baker present an interesting essay on the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg upon the town -- focusing upon the social structure of the town and of the heroic efforts made by many to take care of the sick and wounded. Amy Kinsel's essay is also a meditation upon a history and considers how the image of the Battle of Gettysburg has changed over the years as Americans rethink the Civil War and its significance.
Finally, there is an outstanding essay by Richard McMurry which considers the military significance of the Battle of Gettysburg. McMurry presents a strong case that the Union won the Civil War in the West, in the battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh and in the subsequent capitulation of Vicksburg, which occurred at the same time as the Battle of Gettysburg. Thus he tends to downplay the military importance of Gettysburg. His essay is well-argued and provocative but does not fully address the hold Gettysburg retains on the American imagination.
This is an excellent book for people who have read about the Battle of Gettysburg and want to expand their thinking. New readers may be moved to explore the Battle in detail. Altogether the book offers an excellent illustration of how to approach and address historical and cultural questions of moment.
The Gettysburg People Already Know.........2002-03-29
This book does some share interesting view points of the struggles that ocurred in early July in and around Gettysburg. The amount of facts and different events shared tries to nail some of the popular questions surrounding the battle and it's aftermath. Questionable moves by JEB Stuart, Chamberlain at Little Round Top are next to questions raised by soldier accounts of Pickett's Charge. What happened? What were the stories they had? How many?, etc.. As much as I appreciated this book for the attempts made in clarifying actual events that happened it also arose further questions and doubt about which story to actually believe. Yes, history has been altered by personal accounts and movies, but none of the authors seem to stand on one idea. As much as this book is written well, I didn't enjoy reading about the battle in general. Sometimes a general overview of the battle was written in that for myself seemed great for the first-time visitor or reader. I was completely bored reading about the basic events of the battle over again that this book liked to cover. I would suspect that this book was written for those who had a higher knowledge of the battle, though at times it gets very generalized in detail for the novice reader. This book is something that people just learning about Gettysburg would probably not buy anyway because they would have been looking for a rounded view of the battle not details about certain events. Mixing the over generalized information in with this book would have cut it's content down in half. I appreciate what the author was attempting with this book and would have preferred more in depth content therefore I reasoned a 3 Star rating.
Stories that you will not hear about anywhere else.......2001-08-11
You won't hear anywhere else about what happened to Joshua Chamberlain after the war, about what on earth JEB Stuart was doing (and why, to some degree), about the effects of Stonewall Jackson's absence, and more troumendously interesting subjects. This book WILL give you a different perspective on the battle. The book is full of minute details that may only be interesting to the Civil War buff. But, I can't imagine why not everybody in the world is a Civil War buff. This book also has a very good chapter on the Northern perspective of Pickett's Charge. Required reading for a Civil War buff, I emphasize. The authors are all splendid historians. They include Harry W. Phanz, Richard M. McMurry, Carol Reardon, and others.
A book only for the Gettysburg-obsessed........2000-03-28
This volume is a collection of essays by nine "leading authorities" on unanswered, or previously unasked, questions surrounding the battle of Gettysburg. Some of the contributions were marginally interesting, inasmuch as the actions of several of the battle's more famous, or infamous, commanders - Chamberlain, Sickles, Ewell, Stuart - were examined from new perspectives. I was particularly interested in the somewhat revisionist view of Joshua Chamberlain, an erstwhile personal hero of mine, taken by Glenn LaFantasie. Maybe, just maybe, the savior of Little Round Top wasn't quite the paragon of honor and integrity I thought him to be. (Oh well, another bubble burst. At 51, I should expect such disillusionment.) A couple more of the essays fell into the category of "Who Cares?", e.g. the one by J. Matthew Gallman on the effect of the battle on the town of Gettysburg itself. Yawn. Finally, a couple more were nothing more than windy exercises by "experts" who probably like seeing their views in print regardless of content. Since I don't wish to be accused of the same, I'll stop here. My advice, don't bother buying unless you're really obsessed with the subject.
This fresh examination of facts dispells many of the myths........1999-07-12
Myths about the Battle of Gettysburg persist, but this fresh examination allows a deeper understanding of the events which took place those hot July days back in 1863. The book clarifies myths about Ewell, Chamberlain, Pickett and Lee. It's informative and quite fun.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from National Review, published by Thomson Gale on February 12, 2007. The length of the article is 1436 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Words and history.(Lincoln's Sword: The Presidency and the Power of Words)(The Gettysburg Gospel: The Lincoln Speech That Nobody Knows)(Book review)
Author: Jeffrey Hart
Publication:
National Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 12, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 59
Issue: 2
Page: 41
Article Type: Book review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Amazon.com
For most non-Muslims, Islam is an indistinct religion of white tunics, much kneeling, and fanatic violence. Long-time New Yorker writer Milton Viorst begins refining this image for us by traveling throughout the Arab world and taking us back into the early days of Muhammad's empire. In Egypt, he meets with scholars from Islam's most influential university to understand opinions surrounding the murder of one liberalizer of Islam and the state-dissolved marriage of another. In Syria, he speaks with King Hussein about his family's history, which reaches back to Muhammad's brother-in-law, and Hussein's efforts to bring modernity to Islam. In Algeria, he examines how such a promising young Islamic democracy could dissolve into civil war. And throughout, Viorst is looking for the answer to what prevents Islam from accepting modernity along with the rest of the world. Through Viorst's forays deep into Islamic history and through the voices of thinkers throughout the Arab world, we gradually appreciate the dilemmas that plague Islamic society and the sincerity with which many men and women are taking to the task of creating a society that allows for the prosperity of Muslims while not forsaking the wisdom that Islam accords to all aspects of life. --Brian Bruya
Book Description
Based on in-depth interviews with scores of key Islamic leaders and thinkers, journalist Milton Viorst explores the economic and intellectual straitjacket in which traditional Islam has placed the Middle East.
The Middle East has long been a volatile yet vital region in world politics. In his captivating new book, In the Shadow of the Prophet, journalist Milton Viorst illuminates the complex struggle to reconcile the Muslim community's fierce determination to live by traditional Islamic law and beliefs with the desire for economic and political power in today's world.
Throughout the Middle East, a rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism has attempted to overturn moderate or secular government, creating in its place an Islamic state based on the ancient moral code of Muhammad's time. Conservative and fundamentalist sects are violently at odds with those Muslims who feel Islam must find a way to integrate science and democracy into Islamic life. Without an opening up of Islam, the Middle East will continue to lag far behind the West and even emerging Third World nations in terms of its military power, economic might, and general standards of living.
Customer Reviews:
Readable and Insightful.......2005-10-15
In an engaging prose Milton Viorst manages to introduce the reader to the different and in many cases diametrically opposed world of Middle Eastern Islam. There is a chapter on many of the main nation states with chapters on the birth of Islam and the development of Shari'a law interspersing them. In making the concept of the Islamic government accessible to the western mind Viorst has made a remarkable achievement. The book highlights, although never explicitly, the problems of judging Islamic society on the basis of the liberal, western and democratic ethical paradigm within which we all operate. A very important point within the current problems of international politics in the light of increased globalisation.
For anyone wanting an introduction to this important region and its faith this book is a must read merging a critical insight with a profound respect for the history and culture of the Middle East.
A sobering account of the role of Islam in the Arab world.......2003-04-24
In this book Viorst examines the role of Islam in shaping the political puzzle of the Arab world. This book is not about religion, nor is it a book about the Middle East. It is about the "political" Islam as an ideology and a force that shapes developments in the Middle East. Islam is only one of the many pieces of the Middle East puzzle (repressive regimes, regional ambitions, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and of course oil, are the others) but it's one that envelopes all else. And while Islam is not the only religion in history to force a political agenda, its influence in the Arab world today is powerful, steering islamic societies away -if not against- the western world. The question Viorst sets out to answer is this: is Islam responsible for the economic and social stagnation of the Arab world? In search for the answer he examines the historical roots of Islam, the development of Shari'a, and recent and past developments in a number of islamic countries.
Viorst describes the current ideological state of Islam as a battle between orthodoxy, fundamentalism, and modernism. Orthodoxy represents the religious status quo; it is rooted in the tradition of Islamic law but coexists comfortably with secular authority. Fundamentalism represents a rebellious and militant sect that feels betrayed by orthodoxy and seeks the submission of all things secular under religious law. Modernism represents the hope for an Islamic reformation that will lead to enlightenment and renaissance. It becomes apparent, however, that modernism currently lacks the strength to be relevant in the ideological debate. The true battle is between orthodoxy and fundamentalism and the distinction between the two is one of degree more than one of ideology.
As we follow Viorst on a tour of islamic countries (Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Jordan and Iran) we soon realize that religious influence cannot be easily divorced from the political situation in which it is born, in particular the lack of free political expression that is the common denominator throughout the Middle East. In such a repressed climate, the loose hierarchy of Islam turns the local mosque into a political nucleus, its imam into a cell leader, the Friday prayer into a rally -the only form of self organization that is tolerated. Why has this failed to produce a liberal theology and a force for social justice? It is, Viorst explains, because Islam's orthodoxy is introverted, transfixed by a strict code whose moral, social and intellectual norms are thirteen centuries old. By western standards, the golden age of Islam was the mid-8th century, when an Arab empire stretched from Persia to Spain and Baghdad was the cultural center of the world, eagerly absorbing the Greeks and prolific in producing mathematics, medicine and astronomy. But for Islamic orthodoxy this is a period of worldly living, moral decay and heretic experimentation with western values. The true golden age, we learn, is the rashidun, a 30-year period in the mid 600's, during the infancy of the new religion in the deserts of the Arabic peninsula.
The book was written before 9/11 and some passing references to the now extinct Taliban will sound dated. But in the aftermath of the war in Iraq, the subject remains both relevant and timely, as we witness the re-emergence of islamic politics following the collapse of a brutal but secular regime.
A great Analysis of Arab's Mentality.......2003-01-05
It is obvious from this book that the Author is in toutch with Arab predicaments and delimmas. The Arab would choose to stay behind and welter in poverty and humilation rather than to become a prosperours intellectual secular nation. But what realy got my attention in this book is something interesting about the former Afghany islamic fundamentalist regime, the Taliban. Regarding the punishment of homosexual sinners, the author mention that the Taliban couldnot find a decisive islamic punishment, so they mad up their own - until Muslim Ulma agree on some punishment.- Actually The Koran itself discuss this matter. Let's first look at these Koranic verse :"15. If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, take the evidence of four (reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them, or Allah ordain for them some (other) way. 16. If two men among you are guilty of lewdness, punish them both. If they repent and amend, leave them alone; for Allah is Oft-returning, Most Merciful." 4:15-16 Yousif Aly Translations. Acctually Mr. Aly translations in verse 16 - "punish them both. " is untrue and does not represent the original Arabic which could be better represented by the English "rebuke them both", which means the punishment can be even as mild as just verbally in case of male homosexual. The case of Lesbian is far severer - death - and also ambiguous - Allah ordain for them some (other) way. - Therefore it seems that the Taliban - and also, strang enough but True , most islamic fundamentalist Orthodox - would choose to violate the Koran than to present it as weak on its punishment of homosexuals.
There are some errors in the book, which realy do not affect the book's subject, but the critics of the author may hold it to attack the book. For example as the author mentions: the custodian of Muhammed after his mother's death was Muhammed maternal grand father. Acctually it was his paternal grand father. But as I mentioned that has no count regarding the theme of the book and its bright presentation
Excellent Book; Necessary Reading.......2002-09-12
In this book, the astute Mr. Viorst has given us a key to understanding what is going on in the Islamic world today. With events in the Middle East taking up so much of our attention in the wake of September 11, 2001, it would be well worth anyone's time and effort to come to grips with the issues he explores in this book. Although Mr. Viorst is Jewish, he is a judicious and fair commentator on Islamic matters. As far as the unjust criticism leveled at him by a previous reviewer, I will point out that every other reviewer gave this book either 4 or 5 stars. Please read this book and Thomas Friedman's - they will increase your understanding, challenge you intellectually, and are fun to read.
journalist not a scholar.......2002-08-13
Milton Viorst is a veteran journalist, who has written about the Middle East for twenty-five years, mostly for the New Yorker magazine. Over the years, he says that he has acquired `a fondness for the Arabs and esteem for their civilization'. He is troubled by the Arabs' failure in politics and economics and in his book, In the Shadow of the Prophet: The Struggle for the Soul of Islam, he aspires to `strip off the exterior layers to get to the heart of Arab culture, the body of conventional Islamic belief'. In his quest, Viorst visited seven countries in the Middle East, observing and interviewing leaders and other notables from various sections of society. The result is this book, which was first published in 1998 and has been recently republished by the Westview Press.
In the first chapter, titled `Through the Damascus Gate', Viorst encounters the differences between two world views. Strolling down the streets near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, he observes the difference between the products sold by Jewish and Muslim vendors. Most of the Arab stores sold identical wooden camels whereas the Jewish shops pedaled `dazzling jewelry, freshly designed, obviously fabricated in state-of-the-art workshops'. The two products, Viorst writes, summarized to him in tangible terms the cultural differences between the Middle East and the West. The camels symbolized the Arab resistance to change whereas the silver necklaces pointed to the innovativeness of the Jews who had brought it with them from the West.
Despite the economic backwardness and all other problems, Viorst argues that the Arab world is not what the Western media often portrays it to be. He writes that the argument that terrorism is `the region's chief product' is shortsighted and flawed. `Western streets are far more dangerous than the Middle East; and crime, heavily related to the drug trade, takes more victims than all [the] Middle East's terrorists combined', he contends.
Swiftly moving between past and present, Viorst identifies three basic tendencies among Muslims; namely the orthodox, the modernist and the fundamentalist. He writes that there is a struggle for the soul of Islam between these rival viewpoints. He designates Orthodoxy as the mainstream with `modernism' on the left and `fundamentalism' on the right. Despite their differing visions of Islam, Viorst writes that all three hold in common certain basic values. `All three accept the priority of preserving the faith from the godless', says Viorst. `Their common adversary is secularism, a body of thought and practice which they associate with the West'.
This kind of classification is however highly subjective and complicated. How, for example does one describe the views of Rachid Ghannouchi, the exiled leader of Tunisian Islamic movement? The dynamic personality of Ghannouchi incorporates elements from all three trends, but Viorst inaccurately labels him as a `modernist'. While not being explicit, Viorst makes subtle criticisms of the orthodoxy and fundamentalists while admiring the modernists.
Logically speaking a discussion on the life of Prophet Muhammad (sws) and the Shari`ah (Islamic Law) should have been covered in the very first chapter of the book. But in In the Shadow of the Prophet, it appears in the third and fifth chapter. In these chapters, Viorst unnecessarily brings in the academic debate over the origins of Islam, a topic that is beyond the scope of this book. He is a journalist not a scholar of Islamic studies and therefore is not qualified to write on this highly specialized subject. But he broaches it anyway and recycles many of the classic orientalist assumptions that have been already refuted by other scholars.
The Qur'anic prohibition on alcohol is well known not only to Muslims but also to non-Muslims. But Viorst claims that the Qur'anic verses prohibiting alcohol are a `dilemma' for Muslims. He writes: `The Qur'an reveals some equivocation about how to deal with the drinking problem. These verses create a dilemma for Muslims, who deny Muhammad's hand in the text, yet dislike attributing uncertainty to God. Whoever was in charge, however, obviously engaged in considerable reflection before reaching a decision...Some secular scholars speculate that Muhammad, after trying to moderate drinking, ultimately recognized his failure'.
Viorst fails to understand that the gradual prohibition was all part of God's plan to uproot the evil of drinking while recognizing the weakness of humans and giving them time to overcome such disastrous habits. These verses pose no dilemma to any straight thinking person.
The late King Hussein of Jordan was a controversial personality in the Muslim world. His views had little following outside of Jordan but Viorst has nothing but praise for him and thinks of him as a great exemplar. He writes that the King represented a moderate vision of Islam, which is separate from the above-mentioned three classifications. He calls it `The Hashemite Option', which he says represents `freedom, tolerance and equal rights'. Viorst dedicates the whole last chapter to `The Hashemite Option' and claims that it holds much promise in reconciling Islam with the modern world.
Viorst had intended to `strip off the exterior layers to get to the heart of Arab culture', but he only manages to scratch the surface. What emerges is a book lacking authority and order but nonetheless containing some valuable observations and interesting information.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Middle East Policy, published by Middle East Policy Council on October 1, 1999. The length of the article is 3552 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: In the Shadow of the Prophet: The Struggle for the Soul of Islam.(Review) (book reviews)
Author: Guilain Denoeux
Publication:
Middle East Policy (Refereed)
Date: October 1, 1999
Publisher: Middle East Policy Council
Volume: 7
Issue: 1
Page: 177
Article Type: Book Review
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Book Description
Current patterns of land use and development are at once socially, economically, and environmentally destructive. Sprawling low-density development literally devours natural landscapes while breeding a pervasive sense of social isolation and exacerbating a vast array of economic problems. As more and more counties begin to look more and more the same, hope for a different future may seem to be fading. But alternatives do exist.
The Ecology of Place, Timothy Beatley and Kristy Manning describe a world in which land is consumed sparingly, cities and towns are vibrant and green, local economies thrive, and citizens work together to create places of eduring value. They present a holistic and compelling approach to repairing and enhancing communities, introducing a vision of "sustainable places" that extends beyond traditional architecture and urban design to consider not just the physical layout of a development but the broad set of ways in which communities are organized and operate. Chapters examine:
- the history and context of current land use problems, along with the concept of "sustainable places"
- the ecology of place and ecological policies and actions
- local and regional economic development
- links between land-use and community planning and civic involvement
- specific recommendations to help move toward sustainability
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The authors address a variety of policy and development issues that affect a community-from its economic base to its transit options to the ways in which its streets and public spaces are managed-and examine the wide range of programs, policies, and creative ideas that can be used to turn the vision of sustainable places into reality.
The Ecology of Place is a timely resource for planners, economic development specialists, students, and citizen activists working toward establishing healthier and more sustainable patterns of growth and development.
Customer Reviews:
comprehensive evaluation how to create sustainable community.......1999-08-29
This book represents the most comprehensive evaluation of current trends in urban development and planning. It offers an over-arching strategy for creating more sustainable places to live. I highly recommend this book to all those interested in seeking comprehensive solutions to the ills of urban growth.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Journal of the American Planning Association, published by American Planning Association on March 22, 1999. The length of the article is 850 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The Ecology of Place: Planning for Environment, Economy and Community.(Review)
Author: William E. Rees
Publication:
Journal of the American Planning Association (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1999
Publisher: American Planning Association
Volume: 65
Issue: 2
Page: 237(2)
Article Type: Book Review
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The Ecology of Place: Planning for Environment, Economy, and Community. (book reviews): An article from: Planning
Harold Henderson
Manufacturer: American Planning Association
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This digital document is an article from Planning, published by American Planning Association on March 1, 1998. The length of the article is 831 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The Ecology of Place: Planning for Environment, Economy, and Community. (book reviews)
Author: Harold Henderson
Publication:
Planning (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 1998
Publisher: American Planning Association
Volume: v64
Issue: n3
Page: p31(2)
Article Type: Book Review
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