Originally published: New York : Oxford University Press, 2002.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-177) and index.

The lessons of the battlefield -- The quest for wealth and power -- Social and cultural barriers -- Modernization and social equality -- Secularism and the civil society -- Time, space, and modernity -- Aspects of cultural change.

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 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.