Table of Contents

Chapter 1: A Question of Identity
Chapter 2: The New World Disorder
Chapter 3: Imaginary Kingdoms
Chapter 4: The Field of Blackbirds: The Kosovo Myth and The Mountain Wreath
Chapter 5: Clashing Civilizations: A Paradigm Come True?
Chapter 6: The Paradise of Belonging
Chapter 7: "Blasphemers of Our Country's Inherited Faith"
Chapter 8: The Byzantine Inheritance
Chapter 9: The Ottoman Inheritance
Chapter 10: September 11, Islam, Christianity, and Tolerance
Chapter 11: Some Reflections on September 11, 2001

About the Author

Christopher Catherwood is a historian, lecturer, and writer based in Cambridge. He wrote this book while a visiting scholar at both Cambridge University's Centre of International Studies and at the University of Richmond. He is currently a Rockefeller Resident Fellow at the Institute on Violence, Culture and Survival, the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy, the University of Virginia.

Reviews

Catherwood's book is a good source for coming to grips with violent religion and its various causes. Catherwood's book is also shorter and easier to read than most of those on this topic.

Catherwood helps us navigate the seas of meaning that make up identity politics and understand the dynamics that create the ersatz religions of Hitler, Stalin, and now Osama bin Laden. Even those who disagree with Catherwood's answers will appreciate the way he asks the questions.
*E. J. Dionne Jr., author of Why Americans Hate Politics and They Only Look Dead*

The events of September 11th and afterward have confirmed in many minds that a clash of civilizations is in process. It will be a dangerous and complicated world for all of us living in the twenty-first century. That is why those who speak for the dialogue of civilizations assume extraordinary significance. Why the Nations Rage is an excellent example of the dialogue of civilizations. It is an intelligent, scholarly, and yet humane analysis of the world we are living in. I strongly recommend it to all those interested in the major issues that have been thrust upon us after September 11th.
*Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, American University*

Wrestling with problems of religious nationalism and ethnic conflict, we need the perspective that only history can provide. Christopher Catherwood provides just such insight in this crisp and thoughtful study. He gives us an admirably accessible guide, one that many will read with profit, as I have done. It could not be more timely.
*A. E. Dick Howard, University of Virginia*