Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic Eyes

a history of the world through Islamic eyes

390 pages

English language

Published Aug. 9, 2009 by PublicAffairs.

ISBN:
978-1-58648-606-8
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
246894282

View on OpenLibrary

View on Inventaire

(4 reviews)

"We in the West share a common narrative of world history: It runs from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, through Greece and Rome, through the rise of Christianity and the Dark Ages, through the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment, to industrialism, the secular state, and the triumph of democracy. As a young history buff growing up in Muslim Afghanistan, Tamim Ansary absorbed this narrative but also knew that it sidelined an entire civilization, one that had seen itself at the center of the global narrative for over a thousand years."

"In Destiny Disrupted, Ansary tells the rich story of world history as it looks from that other perspective. With the evolution of the Muslim community at the center, his story moves from the lifetime of Mohammed through a succession of far-flung empires, to the struggles and ideological movements that have wracked the Muslim world in recent centuries, to the tangle …

1 edition

Outstanding.

I’ve read a lot of books about Islamic history. I’ve also read several versions of the Qur’an with commentary. These tomes tend to be dry and scholarly. This is fine, but I prefer cordial narratives and a sprinkle of humor when reading a book about history for my pleasure. Tamim Ansary’s Destiny Disrupted is ideal in this regard.

Despite its respectable 400+ pages, I blazed through this book. It was so damned interesting, and it goes down easy. The writing is smooth, conversational, and personal. I appreciate that Ansary is an Afghan and identifies as a secular Muslim. He’s offering this narrative from the unique perspective of someone who grew up immersed in Afghan-Muslim culture and now lives in the West, with all its silos and post-enlightenment trappings.

Not only does it paint a complete picture of the political, religious, and social evolution of the Islamic world for the past …

Very good for me in building a large-scale understanding of Islam and the Middle World

No rating

To me, Destiny Disrupted is an excellent, high-level history of Islam and the Middle World; one which allows me to stitch together and better read similarities and differences between my otherwise isolated knowledge of Islam and the many spiritual, political, military currents over more than a thousand years

avatar for elwoodicious

rated it

avatar for lucasrizoli

rated it

Subjects

  • Islam -- History
  • Civilization, Islamic -- History
  • Islamic countries -- History
  • Islamic Empire -- History
  • East and West
  • World history

Lists