Customer Reviews

THE DAWNING OF A NEW DARK AGE: A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS ON ISLAM

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A book of reader-friendly and short essays, Mark Alexander's The Dawning of a New Dark Age examines the tenets of Islam and clearly delineates what those tenets mean for Western civilization. Concentrating on the present danger, the signs of which continue to proliferate since the book's publication in 2003, the author passionately spells out and proves the bottom line: Islam is not just another religion. Mr. Alexander writes from the Christian perspective, but his book will also appeal to those who are not Christians because he uses excellent sources as well as his personal observations. READ THIS BOOK!

A BOOK WORTH READING

The Dawning of a New Dark Age, A Collection of Essays on Islam, by Mark Alexander (1st Books, ISBN: 1-4107-9037-1, paperback; 2003.)

I thought I knew almost all of the current books (past few years) about Islam. I had not encountered this book, however, until the author alerted me to it, for which I am grateful.

After reading the book, I can recommend it enthusiastically to readers new to Islam and its dangers, but I must offer a qualification to that recommendation.

First, the writing is excellent. The author's style flows, with great grammar and syntax as well as thought formulation and progression, i.e., he is clear and easy to follow. I would love to see more writing from him.

The book is presented as a series of short essays. One may start at any point reading these and lose absolutely nothing by skipping about, as long as one reads the entire book. If you start reading from the beginning and proceed systematically to the end, you may notice repetitions, but probably not if you dip in and out until finished.

Second, and more importantly, his grasp of Islam meets many criteria of depth and breadth. He lived in Saudi Arabia long enough to come to terms with Islam, particularly the Saudi variety (Wahhabism), and Arabs. He knows the subject well and covers almost all of the concerns people should have about Islam. There is so very much I agree with that I almost had déjà vu. Some of the 47 chapters are more appealing to me than others, but these chapters are like 47 unique facets, each giving insight to this huge problem of Islamism. Someone beginning the work of studying Islam will find valuable nuggets of information in all 47 chapters.

Anyone unfamiliar with Islam will get a terrific education, delivered quickly and painlessly. It is such an easy introduction that I would put this book into the MUST READ category for those who want to understand why Islam is a threat to American culture and values, and who want a good place to start understanding the problems Islam creates for our civilization.

Third, the author is not just pro-Western culture, but he is unabashedly pro-American. He sees with objectivity about the threat that Islam poses to our country and the entire civilized world, and he minces no words presenting his thoughts fearlessly, without concessions made to the "sensitivities" of this or that person or group or nation. I greatly admire how he identifies multiculturalism and political correctness for the evils that they are, and identifies Islam and its evils for what they are. Since he spent significant time in school in England, he speaks to how the Brits have severely endangered themselves by being so obliging to the Muslims infesting their country. He also has excellent chapters on France and Turkey.

My sole complaint is that, for all of the author's excellent qualities, he is not philosophically-oriented; I wish so much that he was. Were he so oriented, his case against Islam could be even stronger, perhaps unassailable. He wants very much to wake people up, to shake them out of their passive unconcern, to fill their minds with good information, and to neutralize the poison of relativism, multiculturalism, and political correctness, all of which are sustained by today's wide-spread moral uncertainty among Americans. He is looking for answers in terms of guiding principles, and he comes close to finding them.

However, he relies on Western religion as a philosophical base, particularly Christianity, rather than philosophical principles, and this perspective just does not take him as far as he obviously wants to go. Religions have values which differ from religionist to religionist, and which separate religions from a strong system of philosophy. Rational, integrated philosophical principles complete the armamentaria, and take those who hold these principles the full distance.

What religionists and non-religionists have in common is a shared vision of the incredible danger Islam poses. We also support the Constitution, which guarantees our freedom of thought and Rights of Man. We must stand united and well-armed through the discipline of philosophy rather than distracted by differences in details of various belief systems.

[We discuss the philosophical elements of Islam and dealing with it within our website, 6th Column Against Jihad (http://www.6thcolumnagainstjihad.com).]

Otherwise, I enjoyed this book very much, and I think it offers much of value to an intelligent reader who wants a good place to start to understanding Islam.

(Review by George Mason)

An easily accessable read outlining the dangers that Islamism presents, not just to western civilisation, but to all cultures, for Islam's intent, made plain in this book of short essays, is nothing short of that age old plague of man's existance - world dommination. A dramatic statement, yes, but unless we awake to the dangers clearly outlined in this book, a drama that will unfold under our very noses, with catastrophic consequences for us all. Make no mistake, the Quran says it, the pious muslims say it, and Mark shows you exactly where and how they say it, in a format that is easy to read and follow.

Islam is immiscible with other cultures, 1400 years of history and countless tales of cultures lost tell us in unmistakeable detail that this is so. Mark's book gives you an insight as to why this is so. As Mark shows, by adhering to the idols of our age, 'political correctness' and 'multiculturalism', we are facilitating Islam's age old dream. This book goes against the prevaling orthodoxies of our times and in so doing, delivers a clear warning of the danger which faces us all.

In his no nonsense book, Mark states clearly, without any equivocation at all, that the West is on a dangerous path -- a path that could well lead to loss of freedom and democracy if it doesn't start minding the store. This is a great read. Highly recommended for all those who need to understand the threat the Islamic world poses to the West.

A MUST READ for Americans who do not understand the forces behind the attacks by Islamic terrorists on Western civilization. Mark Alexander bases his analysis on extensive research in Islamic literature, passages from the Koran, and his own experience gained from living and working in the Middle East. Mark's book is beautifully and powerfully written and is eminently readable.