Continuing her journey from a deeply religious Islamic upbringing to a post at Harvard; the brilliant; charismatic and controversial New York Times and Globe and Mail #1 bestselling author of Infidel and Nomad makes a powerful plea for a Muslim Reformation as the only way to end the horrors of terrorism; sectarian warfare and the repression of women and minorities.Today; she argues; the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims can be divided into a minority of extremists; a majority of observant but peaceable Muslims and a few dissidents who risk their lives by questioning their own religion. But there is only one Islam and; as Hirsi Ali shows; there is no denying that some of its key teachings—not least the duty to wage holy war—are incompatible with the values of a free society. For centuries it has seemed as if Islam is immune to change. But Hirsi Ali has come to believe that a Muslim Reformation—a revision of Islamic doctrine aimed at reconciling the religion with modernity—is now at hand; and may even have begun. The Arab Spring may now seem like a political failure. But its challenge to traditional authority revealed a new readiness—not least by Muslim women—to think freely and to speak out.Courageously challenging the jihadists; she identifies five key amendments to Islamic doctrine that Muslims have to make to bring their religion out of the seventh century and into the twenty-first. And she calls on the Western world to end its appeasement of the Islamists. “Islam is not a religion of peace;†she writes. It is the Muslim reformers who need our backing; not the opponents of free speech.Interweaving her own experiences; historical analogies and powerful examples from contemporary Muslim societies and cultures; Heretic is not a call to arms; but a passionate plea for peaceful change and a new era of global toleration. In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo murders; with jihadists killing thousands from Nigeria to Syria to Pakistan; this book offers an answer to what is fast becoming the world’s number one problem.
#95502 in Books Linda Hervieux 2015-10-27 2015-10-27Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x 1.20 x 6.00l; .0 #File Name: 0062313797368 pagesForgotten The Untold Story of D Day s Black Heroes at Home and at War
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Boardwalk Empire fans will enjoy the vibrant chapter on Atlantic CityBy A Customer"Forgotten" is thoroughly researched and thoroughly readable. It is the story of the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion; a unit of African-American soldiers who landed in France during the D-Day invasion via a U.S. Army system then-rife with institutional racism. While their mission at Normandy--particularly the heroism of a medic named Waverly Woodson; who tended to the wounded and the drowning for 30 hours before collapsing from his own wounds--was mentioned in army press releases and received extensive coverage in the black press; their contributions quickly disappeared from the public record and public discourse. Medals; if they came at all; were of a lesser degree. Even the GI Bill had limits in its implementation; as veterans recount; since trades such as TV repairman became de facto earmarked for white veterans in the parts of the country where Jim Crow persisted. Hervieux threads strands of social history; military history and journalistic interviews with the handful of 320th veterans who were alive during the 10-year span of her project to create a stirring narrative that is never sentimental. Boardwalk Empire fans will enjoy the vibrant chapter on Atlantic City; NJ; and the enduring love story of Wilson Monk and Mertina Madison. Quiz night and general knowledge aficionados will appreciate the chapter on the history of barrage balloons. British readers like me will find fascinating the policy battles that surrounded the stationing of U.S. soldiers on UK soil. "Forgotten" does the men and families of the 320th honor.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Jim Crow in the military in WWIIBy Sheldon WinstonThis is an important book to read. It describes; what many of us already know; how segregation and Jim Crow and the Army treated our African Americans before and during WWII. It is difficult to understand how the nation treated fellow Americans in the south and in the Armed Forces while fighting the Nazi's. It is a shameful part of our history.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Important; readable and worth buyingBy BrodyNJI'm about halfway through the book and I would highly recommend it. The writing is crisp and descriptive and the reporting is impeccable. You feel like you're reading something really 'new;' not a rehashed version of events. I keep feeling amazed and somewhat ashamed at how little I know about that era in American history; yet grateful I picked up this book.
