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Books Related to The Roots of Radical Islam Gilles Kepel - ISBN: 0863565093
Egypt as the cradle of Islamic Radicalism - Rated
Gilles Kepel's work was first published in 1984, and unfortunately it has only grown in importance as the national movement it describes has mushroomed into a global menace.
Kepel's book is focussed on the growth of Islamic movements in post-colonial Egypt, including the moderate Muslim Brotherhood, and the ways in which successive Egyptian leaders alternately repressed or co-opted them.
Kepel's book was probably one of the first to try to describe to a western audience the work of Sayyid Qutb, now widely considered the intellectual father of Islamic radicalism.
All in all, this is an essential book for people who want to learn about the political environment in which modern Islamic radicalism first took root.
Beginning to understand - Rated
I read this book to try to fill in gaps in what I knew was an imperfect understanding of radical Islam and also to try to answer a number of big questions. How could people who had never met me hate me and everything I represent enough to want to kill me? How can a religion which is supposed to be about spirituality be used to generate the levels of hatred clearly manifested by terrorist attacks? And more importantly, what can be done to act against this kind of philosophy and to change the conditions in which is flourishes?
In a structured and easily understandable style Gilles Kepel provides some of the answers, at least to how we have got here. For those with no direct knowledge and experience of either Egypt or Islam he provides sufficient detail to make sense of developments over the past few decades, and to understand the mind set of those whose exploits we hear described in the news everyday. His view is also non-judgemental and clearly comes from an academic rather than political standpoint providing illustration rather than justification for any side, and creating a balanced narrative of events. All in all - A good starting point for trying to understand this complex issue and one which leaves the reader with plenty of food for thought and sufficient knowledge to act as a foundation for seeking out further material.
