Coming May 4, 2009, from Public Affairs.

World history is the story of how we got to here and now. Necessarily, therefore, the shape of the narrative depends on who is meant by “we” and what is meant by “here-and-now.” People in the West share a common narrative of world history that runs from the Nile Valley and Mesopotomia, through Greece and Rome, to the rise of the secular state and the triumph of democracy; but this story largely omits an entire civilization, one that until recently saw itself at the center of world history and whose citizens have shared an entirely different narrative of world history for a thousand years.

In Destiny Disrupted, Ansary recounts world history as it looks if one assumes (as many do) that the heart of the world is situated somewhere between the Indus and Istanbul and that the pivotal event of human history was the birth of Islam. The narrative begins in Mesopatomia and the Persian highlands and moves through the tumultous drama of Prophet Mohammed’s life and the struggles among his immediate successors, one through the ebb and flow of great Muslim empires, and into a modern age dominated by Western powers and cultures. 

The book illuminates why two great civilizations grew up almost totally oblivious to each other, what happened when they intersected, and how the Islamic world was affected by its slow recognition that Europe—a place long perceived by Muslims as primitive and disorganized—had somehow hijacked destiny. Written for a popular readership, Destiny Disrupted entertains as it enlightens, offering a sweeping perspective on conflicts in the news today.

To pre-order Destiny Disrupted, A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes, go here or here or here.
 

Praise for Destiny Disrupted

Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, says:

“Ansary has written an informative and thoroughly engaging look at the past, present and future of Islam. With his seamless and charming prose, he challenges conventional wisdom and appeals for a fuller understanding of how Islam and the world at large have shaped each other. And that makes this book, in this uneasy, contentious post 9/11 world, a must-read.”

Reza Aslan, author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam says,

“This is a marvelous book. Ansary has written an indispensable historical account of the last 1,500 years from a perspective that is all too often ignored in the West. Destiny Disrupted will be read for generations to come.”

Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved, says

“There’s not a page where you won’t learn something startling in Destiny Disrupted. Beautifully clear and endlessly engaging, it’s a romp through science, poetry, politics, and religion, in the company of a wise and charming mind, the perfect antidote to the Islamophobia that clouds Europe and North America.”