Editor's Shelf pictures the books as they appear on the shelf. It's more of an inventory of recent arrivals than any serious assesment of the book.

FUNDAMENTALISM AND LITERATURE Edited by Catherine Pesso-Miquel and Klaus Stierstorfer, Palgrave Macmillan Pub date: Jan 2007 228 pages Size 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 $65.00 - Hardcover (1-4039-7491-8)

Ever since Ayatollah Khomeini declared the notorious fatwa against novelist Salman Rushdie in 1989, the fact that literature and fundamentalism have mutual resonances has become obvious. With recent events, from the 9/11 World Trade Centre mayhem to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, fundamentalism has become one of the most pressing concerns of our time. This volume explores its manifold reverberations in writing in English. The contributions approach the phenomenon of fundamentalism in its various guises, which are not restricted to Islamic fundamentalism. They explore fundamentalism’s changing and ambiguous relationships with literature, showing literature as neither complicit nor simply subversive but as an open field where negotiations still appear possible.

Journey into Islam , The Crisis of Globalization, Akbar Ahmed, Brookings Institution Press 2007, c. 323pp., Trade Cloth, 978-0-8157-0132-3, $28.95

"Why?" Years after September 11, we are still looking for answers. Internationally renowned Islamic scholar Akbar Ahmed knew that this question could not be answered until Islam and the West found a way past the hatred and mistrust intensified by the war on terror and the forces of globalization. Seeking to establish dialogue and understanding between these cultures, Ahmed led a team of dedicated young Americans on a daring and unprecedented tour of the Muslim world. Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization is the riveting story of their search for common ground.

Islam Without Illusions, Its Past, Its Present, and Its Challenge for the Future , Ed Hotaling, Cloth $24.95 | ISBN 0-8156-0766-0 | 2003

Unmasking the tie between Islam and modern terrorism, Ed Hotaling explores the radical challenge posed by terrorists to the religion they claim to follow and their threat to the world at large.
Here is the amazing story of how Muhammad's followers conquered half the world, exceeded early Christian Europe in the arts, sciences, and government and won the bloody battles of the Crusades. Hotaling traces the path of Islam to modern times and the spread of Islamic Revivalism spurred by the Iranian Revolution. He reveals its connection to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. With compelling precision, he uncovers alternatives to an impending cataclysmic clash of civilizations.