Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2021 -

Starting in late antiquity, Muslim scholars established a rich Islamic book culture by recording their reflections on papyrus, parchment, and eventually paper. But though crucial to the spread of Islam itself, this dynamic manuscript culture did not evolve into texts written on movable type until the early 19th century. Due to colonial-era plundering of regional libraries, the works most valued today were largely forgotten. But thanks to the efforts of a small number of intellectuals (and their financial patrons) and editors, over the course of the 19th century the most important classical Islamic scholarship was transferred to print, and the consequences were transformative. El Shamsy (Islamic thought, Univ. of Chicago) is an expert storyteller, and he takes the reader along as he looks at how revered medieval texts became the modern classics of today. The journeys are fascinating. A masterpiece on the history of the Islamic print revolution, this book's engaging assessment of the central role advocates of printing played in reshaping the Arabo-Islamic world's intellectual history is required reading for those interested in Islamic thought and literature.Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.

This volume compiles the proceedings of a 2016 conference at the University of Chester about Shi`a minorities. It was a cross-regional effort that yielded a treasure trove of information. Remarkably, the US is omitted. Readers, however, will be amazed not only by the global spread of Shi`a Islam but also at how the driving forces of the 1979 Iranian Revolution elevated some aspects of traditional religion and enlarged or expanded understandings of the theological and political realms. Some chapters call into question the academic approaches to Islam, which seek to categorize its branches into neat divisions without appropriate attention to how believers see themselves in the faith. Other chapters focus on the incredible diversity and adaptability of strategies and concerns that various communities deployed to situate themselves in non-Muslim countries. For example, in the UK, Shi`a communities built charities to help families in Iraq; in Buenos Aires, they emphasized social justice. One chapter pertinently ponders the changes that emerging technologies have on religious communication and challenges to authority. This text consistently challenges readers' assumptions. A must read for those in the field.Summing Up: Essential. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.