2018 Book prize short list

The Islamic Enlightenment: The Modern Struggle Between Faith and Reason

Christopher de Bellaigue

Published by: The Bodley Head

‘The nature and future of Islam is one of the biggest questions of our age. There are many who doubt whether the words ‘Islam’ and ‘Enlightenment’ should even be in the same sentence, let alone next to each other. Christopher de Ballaigue demonstrates a solid enlightenment tradition which remains vibrant today, and his book is compelling and urgent.” – Andrew Adonis

An absorbing account of the political and social reformations that transformed the lands of Islam in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.