The
Shade of Swords:
Jihad and the conflict between Islam and
Christianity.
In
2002 Routledge, in UK and USA, and Roli Books
in India published
M.J. Akbar’s book The Shade of Swords:
Jihad and the conflict between Islam and
Christianity. Once again, the reception was
extraordinarily positive, worldwide, whether
in the Indian media or international newspapers
like the Financial Times. A selection of reviews is
enclosed to indicate the worldwide applause that this
seminal examination of a mojor contemporary crisis
received.
In
2003, an updated version with a long chapter on
Iraq was published internationally.
Praise
for The Shade of Swords
"...I
have rarely come across a book that contains so much
of everything that Islam has given to the world, told so
artistically with the creative ability for which Akbar
is famous. No wonder the book has created a storm both
among the intellectuals and in the marketplace here
and abroad.”
Dr
Rafiq Zakaria in The Hindustan Times
"The
pressing need for the West to look at itself in the wake
of September 11 is the challenge elaborated elegantly
and with great force by M.J. Akbar... [he] deftly shifts
the centre of gravity of the current crisis from the
Middle East to South Asia. He makes clear from the start
that an understanding of Islam today requires a sound
understanding of its roots, particularly with reference
to his chosen subject of jihad, holy war."
Mark
Huband in The Financial Times
"Provocative,
idiosyncratic, polemical and wide-ranging. M.J. Akbar's
writing reflects his depth of experience and his passion
for his subject... Perhaps his most timely book
yet."
William
Dalrymple, author of City of Djinns: A Year
in Delhi
"To
understand the complex forces - religious, political,
and historical - that have fuelled the fervor for Jihad,
read this book”
Fareed
Zakaria, Editor, Newsweek International
"An
unbelievably sophisticated work that is terribly
daring... An innovative and lucid religious history of
ideology, idolatry, betrayal and violence."
Seymour
Hersh, Pulitzer Prize winner and staff writer
for the New Yorker
"Akbar
tells a story like it should be told, penning a
sensitive and sometimes anguished portrait of the
conflict between two religions that have clashed
constantly because conflict was directly proportionate
to territorial and ideological growth... Will undeniably
accrue praise from those who wish to unravel the
composition of the fuels that stoke the Islamic
mind."
Tony
Jesudasan in The Indian Express
"An
excellent new book by the distinguished Indian
journalist M.J. Akbar traces the centuries-long history
of the conflict between Islam and Christianity, inflamed
today by the world dominance of the US."
Alexander Chancellor,
The Guardian
"As
a wordsmith, he has no equals. He is simply the best
journalist/writer in India... With his latest work he is
all set to stun academics the world over with his
incisive, well-researched arguments, impeccably
presented in faultless prose."
Shobha
De
in Bombay Times, The Times of India
"...efficient,
rapid, dramatically engaging history of the
embattlements of Islam."
Farrukh
Dhondy
in India Today
"Akbar's
literary skills and mordant wit are at their best in
recounting the myriad manifestations of jihad, its
mythology, in history, literature and cultures since the
fall of Jerusalem in AD 637 to the destruction of the
World Trade Center in 2002."
Pratap
Bhanu Mehta in
Outlook
"By
the end of the book, Akbar managed to convince me that
there is little to choose between Islam and Christianity
in terms of fanaticism, be it in literal and radical
interpretations of the scriptures or in their urge to
violence."
Sreeram
Chaulia,
Asia Times
"...M.
J. Akbar is knowledgeable, writes extremely well and has
an eye for the arresting anecdote... Akbar, more
comfortable as a journalist than a historian, clearly
admires President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, but
accepts that neither he nor Osama bin Laden is the new
Saladin who will deliver the Islamic umah from the power
of the infidel."
Piers
Paul
Read in The Spectator
"A must read for any right-minded Indian who wishes
to understand the dynamics of the continent and must
therefore understand the intricacies of Islam."
Suhel
Seth
in The Indian Express
"The Shade of Swords is a book of learning and a
book of revelations"
Goolam
E. Vahanvati
in The Asian Age
"...wide-ranging and very readable account of the
varied interpretations of the concept through
history." The
Statesman
"They
used to say that except Pannickar, India has no
historians only chronologists. Reviews apart, I must say
even at the risk of appearing exuberant, your book is
the best historical analysis I have read about Islamic
rule in India that places the dates of Indian history in
analytical perspective".
Subramaniam
Swamy
