What Went Wrong

Bernard Lewis talked about his book What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response, published by Oxford University Press. His book examines the anguished reaction of the Islamic world as it tried to understand why things had changed, how Islamic culture had been overtaken, overshadowed, and to an increasing extent dominated by the West. Lewis provides a fascinating portrait of a culture in turmoil. He shows how the Middle East turned its attention to understanding European weaponry and military tactics, commerce and industry, government and diplomacy, education and culture. Lewis highlights the striking differences between the Western and Middle Eastern cultures from the 18th to the 20th centuries through thought-provoking comparisons of such things as Christianity and Islam, music and the arts, the position of women, secularism and the civil society, the clock and the calendar. close