What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East

by Bernard Lewis (Author)

310 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0060516055

ISBN-10: 0060516054

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For centuries, the world of Islam was in the forefront of human achievement -- the foremost military and economic power in the world, the leader in the arts and sciences of civilization. Christian Europe was seen as an outer darkness of barbarism and unbelief from which there was nothing to learn or to fear. And then everything changed. The West won victory after victory, first on the battlefield and then in the marketplace.

In this elegantly written volume, Bernard Lewis, a renowned authority an Islamic affairs, examines the anguished reaction of the Islamic world as it tried to make sense of how it had been overtaken, overshadowed, and dominated by the West. In a fascinating portrait of a culture in turmoil, Lewis shows how the Middle East turned its attention to understanding European weaponry, industry, government, education, and culture. He also describes how some Middle Easterners fastened blame on a series of scapegoats, while others asked not "Who did this to us?" but rather "Where did we go wrong?"

With a new Afterword that addresses September 11 and its aftermath, What Went Wrong? is an urgent, accessible book that no one who is concerned with contemporary affairs will want to miss.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bernard Lewis is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near Eastern Studies Emeritus at Princeton University. An eminent authority on Middle Eastern history, he is the author of over two dozen books, most notably The Arabs in History, The Emergence of Modern Turkey, The Political Language of Islam, The Muslim Discovery of Europe, and The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years. What Went Wrong? has been translated into more than a dozen languages, including Arabic and Turkish. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Harper Perennial (January 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060516054
ISBN-13: 978-0060516055
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.5 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 310 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #275,202 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #146 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > History > Middle East
- #282 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > International & World Politics > African
- #375 in Books > Textbooks > Social Sciences > Political Science > Political History

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Billie Pritchett

like Islamic warfare

November 16, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Bernard Lewis's What Went Wrong? begins with the question "Why did Western countries advance in science, technology, trade, and other areas of social and economic life and Middle Eastern countries, especially those considered part of the Muslim world, did not?" Lewis then proceeds, throughout the bulk of the book, to address topics unrelated to the book's central question. The reader is treated to excursuses on warfare in the Muslim world, for example, and issues related to the Muslim world's reluctance to accept Westernization and technology and ideas and attitudes association with modernization, but not much in the way of a connection to pushing some thesis or other answering the question. Then, finally, in the conclusion of the book, Lewis returns to the central question, and feigns an answer. Lewis writes:

To a Western observer, schooled in the theory and practice of Western freedom, it is precisely the lack of freedom--freedom of the mind from constraint and indoctrination, to question and inquire and speak; freedom of the economy from corrupt and pervasive mismanagement; freedom of women from male oppression; freedom of citizens from tyranny--that underlies so many of the troubles of the Muslim world. But the road to democracy, as the Western experience amply demonstrates, is long and hard, full of pitfalls and obstacles.

I don't even necessarily disagree with the conclusion, but what is there in the way of argument that this is the correct position to assume? And is this Lewis's position? If so, why not have established it upfront as the thesis and then made the remainder of the book an argument and provided support for this thesis? Probably because this book was originally a series of lectures he had given that begin with some kind of topic, like Islamic warfare, for instance, and then each meander for 20 or so pages without a thesis.

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Dog Owner

and this book serves as an excellent basis for discussion

July 14, 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Worth reading and re-reading. I purchased this after 9-11 and found the context and information to be very helpful in understanding the differences between Western ideas and Muslim ideas. The author leaves some information out, at times leaving the reading questioning the explanation that are proposed (sections on art and music seem to be unfinished). With this in mind, it was worth picking this up and re-reading it in light of recent world events in 2015. There are serious issues that are proposed as sources of conflict between the West and the followers of Islam, and this book serves as an excellent basis for discussion. There are specific references to historical "turning points" in the relationships between world powers and rising powers that provide insight into the problems between various groups today. This is an excellent companion to other discussions of relationships between the west and the middle east.

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Dianne Roberts

What Went Wrong? A Partial Answer, but a Good Start

February 10, 2008

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

There appear to be two schools of historical thought on the Middle East, and on Islam in a larger sense. The first is represented by Edward Said and is largely a post-modernist phenomenon. The second is best represented by Bernard Lewis and employs a more traditional, objectivist approach.

What Went Wrong? is a short but dense exploration of the wresting of civilizational dominance from Islam to Christendom that started around the 15th century and continues to this day. It is concerned with the Islamic perception and response to the events of this decline. The book however does not really answer its own question, and somewhat disappointingly it's a conglomeration of several different essays and lectures the author presented in Germany (before 9/11 coincidentally.) This does not mean it is value-less though.

The partial answer given is a fittingly polyglot one, covering most everything from military arms and organization to political structures to culture and the arts. The most major theme that I drew however is namely the Islamic superiority complex, rightly justified in the high Middle Ages, that led Islamic civilization to "rest on it's laurels" and stagnate -concerning itself with only itself- while the rest of the world simmered along a tortured but vibrant path towards progress. This superiority complex is still as strong today, fueling both biased and piecemeal attempts at modernization and the explosive frustration of being so clearly behind when those attempts inevitably fail.

This book is also one of those examples of when studying the "other" helps you perhaps learn more about yourself in the process. What is so amazing is that not only can no clear, striking answer be given to the question of what went wrong but the world very evidently can't answer the more important question of what went right with western ascendance. The west itself produces no concurring chorus to preach to the world the secrets of its success. Simply look at the diverging platforms of the different western political parties as prescriptions for future prosperity and the myriad authors giving all sorts of explanations for that prosperity, from Jared Diamond's Accident of Geography to Victor Davis Hanson's Culture is Fate. Although I certainly have my belief as to what the west does right (and may be doing wrong recently) so do others who have looked at the same data and convinced themselves just as strongly of opposite conclusions.

Mr. Lewis' most central argument as to both what went right and what went wrong seems to lay in the separation of church and state. But this is by no means his only answer and it would be a disservice not to recommend reading the book to gain not only a greater understanding of his partial answer but also to see into the spectrum of more important related questions and unknowns that unfolds in the intellectual pursuit started by the simple query of what went wrong. The most chilling possibility that glints dimly in the shadow of the author's answer is that Islam, as an all encompassing religion, culture and political system in one, may be unsuitable to ever reversing its relative slide with the rest of the world. The Christian Reformation was a hard fought, long, brutal and bloody affair. Can Islam restore itself to a fully functioning civilization in the world of peer civilizations (let alone really co-exist with them) and avoid the need for a reformation? And if not, just how bloody will Islam's reformation be? Current trends in the world leave the first question unanswered, but the second's answer decidely and darkly obvious.

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December 11, 2010

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

If there is a question that troubles the Islamic world more than any other it is the reason why Islam has fallen behind the west and is dominated by western powers, when once Islam was the glory of the world. The author, who is a Princeton University professor, chronicles the rise and fall of the Ottoman empire and how Islam ignored the rapid advances of the west, thinking that there was little to learn from the "wretched infidels." Just a few decades after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Columbus discovered the new world and the European powers accelerated their growth and military power. At the end of WWI, the Ottoman empire and all its glory had collapsed. The European powers, led by England, began to carve up and dominate the Islamic world; a situation that continues to this day. The reasons why this happened are chronicled in this important book, and leaves the reader with a better understanding of why the Islamic world resents the west and why some extremists cling to the dream of a renewal of Islamic glory, that can only come with a more fervent commitment to Allah and a willingness to engage in jihad.

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Most recent customer reviews

A very bad book from a usually very good author

How a profoundly learned and highly respected historian, whose career spans some sixty years, could produce such a hodgepodge of muddled thinking, inaccurate assertions and...Read more

Published 29 days ago

J. Ducharme

Superb book! A must read. Professor Lewis will ...

Superb book! A must read. Professor Lewis will be greatly missed. RIP.

Published 1 month ago

Bernard K

The roots of Arab islamic societies sclerosis

Bernard Lewis tackles a very complex topic in trying to understand the roots of the Arab islamic sclerosis (cultural, intellectual, social) and comes up with very good insights.Read more

Published 2 months ago

Amazon Customer

Four Stars

Scholarly.

Published 9 months ago

Manda Leigh

Informative if dull

Interesting, but a bit boring. Definitely not a quick read, but I keep coming back. Heavy topic, so it's to be expected.

Published 9 months ago

Pimmermen

A Read For The Scholar

The title of this book is somewhat misleading, for from the main title "what went wrong" we would expect to find a book explaining what went wrong and led to the terrorism...Read more

Published 11 months ago

Paul J Hoffman

Explains Islamic gripes

Dr Lewis is a genius.

Published 1 year ago

Road Runner

How badly we all failed

Should be required reading for everyone who wants to understand the Arab world.

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What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East

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