Table of Contents

1: Family Resemblances
2: The Scandal of Difference
3: The Snares of Literalism
4: Controlling Women
5: Fundamentalism and Nationalism I
6: Fundamentalism and Nationalism II
7: Conclusion
Further reading

About the Author

Malise Ruthven is a freelance writer and journalist, and visiting professor at the University of California, San Diego. A former scriptwriter with the BBC Arabic and World Services, he holds an MA in English Literature and a PhD in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University. He is renowned as a commentator on Islam and the Arabic world.

Reviews

`Stimulating.'
Roger Hardy, New Statesman
`Review from previous edition 'Ruthven's careful analysis of the phenomena ... provides a much-needed mental map [from] one of today's most perceptive observers and historians of religion.''
Guardian
`'...powerful stuff ... this book is perceptive and important.''
Observer
`This is a gentle, civilised book, written with some style. I enjoyed reading it.'
Sasthi Brata, Spectator 10/04/2004
`The first clear definition of this indispensable yet misused term.'
Anoush Ehteshami, University of Durham
`... an important contribution to the current political and cultural debates about Islam and the West, religious extremism, and the changing identity of supposedly secular societies.'
R. Scott Appleby, University of Notre Dame