Challenging the New Orientalism: Dissenting Essays on the "War Against Islam"
M. Shahid Alam's enterprise of forcing "the legacies of history" into "the daylight of consciousness" in the West is informed by deep understanding of the cultural and economic history of Islamic and European societies, and of influential contemporary scholarship and debate.  The analysis is careful and serious, and will be of considerable value to anyone concerned with the crucial and timely issues that Alam addresses, whether they come to agree with his conclusions or not. --Noam Chomsky, Professor of Linguistics, MIT, USAIn this original work, Shahid Alam confronts the problem of power with exceptional candor and courage. His is an eminently sane voice that is moral without being squeamish, pragmatic without being defeatist, and Islamic without relinquishing the reins of history. A highly cogent, enlightening and liberating vision of contemporary politics and morality! --S. Parvez Manzoor, eminent Muslim critic, SwedenIn the face of race-baiting, bigotry and official hysteria, M. Shahid Alam offers reason, analysis and genuine compassion for those who have been steamrolled by the imperial machine as it rampages across the globe. This urgent collection of essays proves that clear and courageous writing can still be a powerful force for change. --Jeffrey St. Clair, coeditor CounterPunch.Org