Customer Reviews

Sacred Space And Holy War: The Politics, Culture and History of Shi'ite Islam

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The book appears to be a collection of disparate lectures or essays loosely tied together to take advantage of the spike in Islamic interest due to terrorism. The book title is deceptive, as it is actually the title of a single chapter in the book, which refers to the 1855 battle over the Ayodha mosque site in India. Although the book does shed light on Bahraini, Saudi and Indian Shi'ite communities (only the Twelver sect, however) it never provides a strong sense of Shia "politics, culture and history" as implied in the title. There is some relevant information on Iranian, Iraqi and Lebanese Shi'ites, but not the level of detail I expected. You will learn something if you read this book, just understand going in that you will have to read another book if you want an understanding of modern Shi'ism. There has got to be a better organized, more focused and concise resource available.

This book is an excellent exploration of a subject not well studied by Western scholars. While this book is well written, I would suggest reading a primer on middle-eastern or Islamic history first. The book is aimed at people who have a general understanding of the subject but are looking to add real depth to what they know. You will find few people who know the subject better than Cole. I suggesting listening to his recent interview on NPR ("Fresh Air with Terry Gross") which can be heard on-line. I can only hope that people in government who have to make critical choice based on their knowledge of the Middle-East will read books like this.

Juan Cole is a noted expert on Shi'ism and here gathers several of his seminal research articles and essays.

The content of this book is fine, if not earth-shattering. However I can't overlook the poor proofreading of the copy. When I see 2 spelling mistakes within a few pages and missing punctuation, it turns me off the entire work, no matter who wrote it.

This poorly edited and abysmally proofread book is nothing more than a compilation of unrelated articles on obscure elements of the history of one Shia sect. There is no unifying theme, and the book fails utterly to live up to its promise. I bought it after being impressed by interview with the author on NPR's "Fresh Air" program. Clearly the interviewer made the running.

Juan Cole's credentials are consistently undermined but his uncanny ability to apologize and/or ignore the savagery perpetrated by the Shia on ALL non-Shia citizens in their midst. This blatant deception reduces the entire work to yet another source of propaganda with that mighty Islamic stamp of approval. Who pays your bills, Juan?