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Title: An excellent introduction to Islam, even more relevant today, 2009, than in 2003
Review: I enjoyed reading Vartan Gregorian's book "Islam: A Mosiac, Not a Monolith". It was written in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, as we in the US struggled to understand why it happened. Gregorian, interestingly enough, is of Armenian parents, but was raised in Iran. The book was published in 2003, but it may as well have been published in 2009, as President Obama himself tries to understand and make peace with the Islamic world.It is a very short book and is written for the general public, but in a very much academic manner. In it he, first of all, explains how Islam started in 600 AD and how and why it split and how this plays out today. He then goes on to explain that not only is Islam practiced differently in different regions, but it also means different things to different peoples.
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