Customer Reviews

Muhammad: The "Banned" Images

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It takes courage for an academic to flout the politically correct system by doing something like this.

So the Islamists intimidated Yale University Press into putting out a book called "The Cartoons that Shook the World" but removing every single illustration? Even the laudatory ones from the Mughal era?

Ah, but that was before the Salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood started calling the shots.

Even Amazon played games with this, by delaying the mailing of Dr. Hull's book. They claimed a waiting time but I spoke to Dr. Hull myself-- he had thousands of the darn things waiting to go out. Still, when I ordered it, Amazon took at least two weeks to send it to me. Being an Amazon book seller, I know that's against the rules for the rest of us.

Be sure to read Dr. Hull's excellent introduction in this book. He uses the example of Yale graduate Nathan Hale, who was hung by the British for his speech.

And some of the illustrations are magnificent. Such a shame that the "extremists" who shut Yale Press up are haters of beauty. There are many lovely illustrations here and we owe a debt to Dr. Hull for being willing to put this book out there.

Get the book. Put the anti-free speech folks in their place.

It's vital that Western Civilization not surrender deeply held values (one of which is the right to free speech - freedom of expression) to the alleged cultural sensitivities of others. If some Muslims are offended by a discussion, or a depiction, of Muhammad, they have - in our world - the same right that I do when I see a copy of "The Communist Manifesto" offered for sale in a bookstore. I don't have to read it. If I find the ideas repugnant, I can offer my own, or those of others, in response, but - in our world - we don't burn books (let alone those who wrote them) merely because we disagree with their content.

By reviewing the historical treatment of Muhammad in Western literature, this book shows that there is nothing new about the attempt to do so in the Danish cartoons, and that some Western publishers (especially Yale University Press) are wrong to have abandoned free speech in order to appease Muslim extremists.

By defying the Islamist hooligans and publishing these images Dr. Hull fills the gap in the dialogue. Now we can all see the images that have been so contentiously discussed.

The books are in our warehouse and ready to be shipped, so order with confidence. -- Gary Hull

Oliver Wendell Holmes, the great American judge, said,. `my freedom is limited by yours' - i.e., I am only free to the extent that I do not interfere with your freedom