What is it about?
The fundamental issue which this book deals with is the theory of eastern despotism, its origins and development. Malcolm shows that this Western theory was created by long-running hostile traditions toward Islam and the Ottoman Empire.
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Why is it important?
Islam and the Ottomans enriched western thinking in general and western political thinking in particular.
Perspectives
This book is such a fine study that pointing to specific inaccuracies or negligences is perhaps churlish. But to play devil’s advocate, while the book’s perspective and narrative are both convincing and impressive, I am here to point to some faults in dealing with certain specific issues.
Dr. Nathan Ron
The University of Haifa
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Useful enemies. Islam and the Ottoman empire in Western political thought, 1450–1750, Global Intellectual History, August 2019, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/23801883.2019.1655521.
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