Infidels: The Conflict Between Christendom and Islam, 638-2002

Viking, 2003. First edition. First printing stated. Hardcover. Good in good dust jacket. Signed by author. DJ has some wear and soiling. Some page discoloration.. xxxiv, 443, [3] p. Illustrations. Maps. Sources and Select Bibliography. Index. How did we learn to hate or despise? Simply, because we were taught to. In 638, the Christian Patriarch of the holy city of Jerusalem called the Muslim Caliph's presence an abomination in the sight of God. Christians and Muslims have since regarded each other warily and have silently thought of each other as "infidels". This work traces the long history of this troubled relationship. It was a campaign without end, waged with the pen, through the printing press, by the power of the human voice and on subtle and insidious suggestions within paintings, drawings and engravings. We also see how and why a battle is still being waged today, through the press and books, television, radio and the Internet. From an on-line posting: "In this dazzlingly written, acutely nuanced account, Andrew Wheatcroft tracks a deep fault line of animosity between civilizations. He begins with a stunning account of the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, then turns to the main zones of conflict: Spain, from which the descendants of the Moors were eventually expelled; the Middle East, where Crusaders and Muslims clashed for years; and the Balkans, where distant memories spurred atrocities even into the twentieth century. Throughout, Wheatcroft delves beneath stereotypes, looking incisively at how images, ideas, language, and technology (from the printing press to the Internet), as well as politics, religion, and conquest, have allowed each side to demonize the other, revive old grievances, and fuel across centuries a seemingly unquenchable enmity. Finally, Wheatcroft tells how this fraught history led to our present maelstrom. We cannot, he argues, come to terms with today s perplexing animosities without confronting this dark past."