Description: Unparalleled in its range of topics and geographical scope, the sixth and final volume of The New Cambridge History of Islam provides a comprehensive overview of Muslim culture and society since 1800. Robert Hefner's thought-provoking account of the political and intellectual transformation of the Muslim world introduces the volume, which proceeds with twenty-five essays by luminaries in their fields through a broad range of topics. These include developments in society and population, religious thought and Islamic law, Muslim views of modern politics and economics, education and the arts, cinema and new media. The essays, which highlight the diversity and richness of Islamic civilization, engage with regions outside the Middle East as well as within Islam's historic heartland. Narratives are clear and absorbing and will fascinate all those curious about the momentous changes that have taken place among the world's 1.4 billion Muslims in the last two centuries.
Brief description: Robert W. Hefner is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Program on Islam and Civil Society at the Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs, Boston University. His previous publications include, as editor, Making Modern Muslims: The Politics of Islamic Education in Southeast Asia (2008), Remaking Muslim Politics: Pluralism, Contestation, Democratization (2005) and, as author, Civil Islam: Muslims and Democratization in Indonesia (2000).
Review Quotes: 'The NCHI (The New Cambridge History of Islam) is a genuine work of scholarship, not a confrontational or polemic effort. For readers interested in Islam, the publication of this 6-volume work by Cambridge University Press in 2010 was a groundbreaking occasion, well deserving all the public and media attention and praise. Despite its decade of service, it still remains a vital resource for Islamic studies and deserves a review of its significance going forward.' Fatih Harpci, Religious Studies Review