"[Wickham] shows how cadres of local Islamists managed to organize it into a cohesive body." -- L. Carl Brown, Foreign Affairs

"Intellectually ambitious." -- Middle East Journal

"The book is one of the best texts available for studying a major Islamic political movement in its proper context." -- Kristin Tassin, Arab Studies Journal

"This book has at least four great strengths... clarity... revives interest... effectively focused... content has enormous appeal." -- Mohamed El Sayed Said, Journal of Islamic Studies

Mobilizing Islam explores how and why Islamic groups succeeded in galvanizing educated youth into politics under the shadow of Egypt's authoritarian state, offering important and surprising answers to a series of pressing questions. Under what conditions does mobilization by opposition groups become possible in authoritarian settings? Why did Islamist groups have more success attracting recruits and overcoming governmental restraints than their secular rivals? And finally, how can Islamist mobilization contribute to broader and more enduring forms of political change throughout the Muslim world?

Moving beyond the simplistic accounts of "Islamic fundamentalism" offered by much of the Western media, Mobilizing Islam offers a balanced and persuasive explanation of the Islamic movement's dramatic growth in the world's largest Arab state.