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| Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia | 
 enlarge | Author: Ahmed Rashid
Publisher: Penguin Books
Category: Book
List Price: £9.82
Buy Used: £6.37
You Save: £3.45 (35%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 347354
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6
ISBN: 0142002607
Dewey Decimal Number: 958.0429
EAN: 9780142002605
ASIN: 0142002607
Publication Date: January 2003
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: A tradition of southern quality and service. All books guaranteed at the Atlanta Book Company.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Every dog may have its day, but after over 20 years reporting from countries people barely knew, and cared about even less, correspondent Ahmed Rashid must have thought his had passed him by. Jihad, however, is the deeply impressive and instructive follow-up to his international bestseller Taliban, and in time could well prove equally influential, as in turning his sights to the desolate steppes of Central Asia, Rashid describes a region that harbours the potential to explode just as disastrously as its southern neighbour. Boundaried by rivers, mountains and desert, with a tolerant and liberal Islamic tradition, Rashid traces the region's history over the past two millennia, which included conquest by Alexander, Tamerlane, Genghis Khan, and most recently tsarist and Soviet Russia. It was Stalin who divided up the former Turkestan into the five new countries--Kazakhstan, Krygyzstan, Takjikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan--indifferent to geographic or ethnic lines. After perestroika and the break-up of the Soviet Union, however, as with post-colonial Africa, the countries' new leaders merely exploited the structures of authoritarian oppression, leading to pan-Islamic underground movements such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, led by Juma Namangani, and the Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami. Obviously, the events of September 11 have changed the gameplan significantly, and Rashid assesses their impact on the five countries, and the looming presence of Russia, China and the USA, all jostling for military and economic advantage behind a strategic alliance intent on defending the "territorial integrity" of administrations that were actually most to blame for the rise of militant Islam. A pivotal time, with further extremist guerrilla militancy inevitable, the oil on which Central Asia uncomfortably sits remains the future hope, potentially providing pipes of peace for troubled lands, enabling regional cooperation and economic restructuring. A work of clear and persuasive vision, rather than rehashing old pieces Ahmed Rashid's superbly balanced analysis brings in from the Cold War a deeply unfashionable yet critical region that more than ever remains central to world peace. --David Vincent
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| Customer Reviews:
 Hearsay and inaccuracies abound February 15, 2005
5 out of 10 found this review helpful
Since the collapse of communism in Central Asia, an Islamic political resurgence has been seen. Unfortunately, Rashid's book provides little insight into the reality of that resurgence. He has relied upon hearsay it and anonymous sources, rather than heavyweight academic investigation. This has led to some glaring factual inaccuracies, especially in regard to the Islamic political movement Hizb ut-Tahrir. He makes little reference to the main pieces of research about the movement, and prefers to rely upon personal sources. I expected much more from this book which failed to meet my expectations
Orientalist fantasies for the Westoxicated October 8, 2003
3 out of 10 found this review helpful
It is hard not to sympathize with someone who been caricatured by V.S Naipaul, but Rashid's rather simplistic journalism leaves little alternative. Rashid is trapped in nineteenth century understanding of history and finds it impossilbe to go beyond the limits of that genre. This is a careless piece of work that fails both as analysis and as description.
a sun readers guide to central asia March 27, 2002
13 out of 22 found this review helpful
In one chapter on the islamic group Hizb-ut-tahrir the writer shows his lack of research which casts doubts on the reliability of the information on the rest of the book. He says the group was founded in saudi arabia, which is incorrect and anyone who bothered to look at the website of this group would know it was not founded in saudi arabia. He claims the movement doesnot have any details on what it is trying to achieve, again their are number of books on the website. His fascinating interview with a "leader" of this movement, who he can't name seems a figment of his imagination, as what he reports from this person contradicts what the movement stands for. These are some of the many errors in the book.
 Most helpful to understand this part of the world February 4, 2002
8 out of 13 found this review helpful
People interested in knowing more about this part of the world are already informed of the interesting work of this author. I feel very attracted by all these places and populations, all stories of old travellers, the Silk Road and the political developments due to the fall of the Soviet Union.
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