Bernard Lewis looks at the new era in the Middle East. With the departure of imperial powers, the region must now, on its own, resolve the political, economic, cultural, and societal problems that prevent it from accomplishing the next stage in the advance of civilization. There is enough in the traditional culture of Islam on the one hand and the modern experience of the Muslim peoples on the other, he explains, to provide the basis for an advance toward freedom in the true sense of that word.

A Source Book for Mediæval History is a scholarly piece by Oliver J. Thatcher. It covers all major historical events and leaders from the Germania of Tacitus in the 1st century to the decrees of the Hanseatic League in the 13th century.

In the turbulent backdrop of India’s struggle for freedom in British India, destiny brings together Raju, a young Indian aspiring to be a revolutionary and Eileen, the teenage daughter of a British officer. Will their relationship survive the societal pressures, cultural divide, and the political turmoil? It is the year 1911. King George the Fifth is due in Delhi for his coronation celebration. A devastating fire in the royal camp gives rise to speculations of sabotage and an assassination attempt by the Indian revolutionaries. In the aftermath of this sensational event, Raju, a college student, struggling to establish his identity in the charged atmosphere of India’s freedom struggle, is caught up in the vortex of violent passions, as two of his innocent friends are made scapegoats for the blaze, by the police and murdered. Raju’s relentless journey against colonial rule and the economic exploitation of India begins. An effervescent romance with Eileen keeps Raju inspired in their roller-coaster ride through the backdrop of British imperialism, turbulent political conflicts, and the fury of the freedom revolution. “Wings of Freedom” is a novel about British India, with a difference, as an Indian author, Ratan Kaul, brings out this tumultuous era from an Indian point of view.

This new volume explores the surprisingly intense and complex relationships between East and West during the Middle Ages and the early modern world, combining a large number of critical studies representing such diverse fields as literary (German, French, Italian, English, Spanish, and Arabic) and other subdisciplines of history, religion, anthropology, and linguistics. The differences between Islam and Christianity erected strong barriers separating two global cultures, but, as this volume indicates, despite many attempts to 'Other' the opposing side, the premodern world experienced an astonishing degree of contacts, meetings, exchanges, and influences. Scientists, travelers, authors, medical researchers, chroniclers, diplomats, and merchants criss-crossed the East and the West, or studied the sources produced by the other culture for many different reasons. As much as the theoretical concept of 'Orientalism' has been useful in sensitizing us to the fundamental tensions and conflicts separating both worlds at least since the eighteenth century, the premodern world did not quite yet operate in such an ideological framework. Even though the Crusades had violently pitted Christians against Muslims, there were countless contacts and a palpitable curiosity on both sides both before, during, and after those religious warfares.