The New World of Islam

About this book

The work is a sweeping historical survey of Islam’s rise, decline, and contemporary upheaval as seen from a turn‑of‑the‑century perspective. It opens with a sweeping statement that the entire Muslim world, stretching from Morocco to China and from Turkestan to the Congo, is in “profound ferment,” a condition the author attributes to the lingering effects of the recent war and to forces that began sowing their seeds a century earlier. From this broad premise the book promises to examine the religion’s evolution across religious, cultural, political, economic, and social dimensions, while also noting the relevance of non‑Muslim Hindu elements in India and parallel developments in the Far East. The detailed table of contents and the extensive introductory narrative trace Islam’s meteoric expansion, its golden age, and the subsequent fragmentation into rival caliphates, sects, and nationalist movements, setting the stage for a comprehensive analysis of the “new world” of Islam.

Written in the grand, essayistic style of late‑19th‑century scholarship, the author employs a confident, almost prophetic voice, interweaving vivid descriptions of battles, dynastic shifts, and intellectual currents with sweeping judgments about civilizations. The prose reflects the era’s penchant for grand historical narratives and moralizing tone, echoing contemporary Orientalist perspectives. Readers who relish dense, panoramic histories that blend political analysis with cultural commentary, particularly those interested in the interplay of religion, empire, and modern nationalism, will find this volume a compelling, if opinionated, window into the scholarly debates of its time.