Shattered Images: The Rise of Militant Iconoclasm in Syria

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Shattered Images: The Rise of Militant Iconoclasm in Syria
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Fred A. Reed
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:260
Dimensions(mm): Height 229,Width 153
ISBN/Barcode 9780889224858
ClassificationsDewey:320.550917671
Audience
General

Publishing Details

Publisher Talon Books,Canada
Imprint Talon Books,Canada
Publication Date 15 September 2003
Publication Country Canada

Description

Fred A. Reed's fifth book on the Middle East and "the wars of the Ottoman succession" traces the roots of Islamic fundamentalism, as currently enacted by Hezbollah and other Islamic fundamentalist organizations, to the iconoclasts of sixth- and seventh-century Damascus. The emergence of Iconoclasm, as sudden and overwhelming as it was catalytic, was at once the product of the forces released by the new social, political and religious teachings of the Prophet, and of their encounter with the Christian world at its far periphery. They are forces that are quite alive and at large in today's world, as the Western crusade against this latest prophetic dispensation of the Abrahamic tradition assumes a form both aggressive and invasive. Shattered Images covers all of the major Islamic faiths in its search for the origins of contemporary fundamentalist movements: the Shi'a, Sunni, Ismaili (and their connection with the Assassins) and many of the minor tributaries of Islam, including the "secular" (and related) Syrian Ba'as and Iraqi Bath parties. As American tank turrets turn from Iraq and take threatening aim at Syria, current events increasingly confirm Reed as an astute expert on Middle-Eastern politics.

Author Biography

Fred A. Reed International journalist and award-winning literary translator Fred A. Reed is also a respected specialist on politics and religion in the Middle East. After several years as a librarian and trade union activist at the Montreal Gazette, Reed began reporting from Islamic Iran in 1984, visiting the Islamic Republic 30 times since then. He has also reported extensively on Middle Eastern affairs for La Presse, CBC Radio-Canada and Le Devoir. Reed is a three-time winner of the Governor General's Award for translation.