The Eastern Question: A Geopolitical History in 108 Maps and Drawings

Artist and printer Danforth cleverly constructs a timeline of over 100 maps and drawings in this oddly whimsical timeline, based on a lecture series he gave on the events that presaged the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The World Trade Center collapse flattened Danforth's place of business, spurring him to investigate Osama bin Laden's motivations and share what he found. He follows Herodotus's ancient formulation of conflict between East (Persia) and West (Greece), using an American football field as an illustrative guide and assigning a color to each of the six main players%E2%80%94Eastern Empire (Greek-influenced), Western Empire (Roman-influenced), Mongols, Northern Europe (Protestants), Persia/Shias, and Sunnis%E2%80%94for easy identification throughout the book. Opening with an introduction to Halford Mackinder, an early developer of the concept of geopolitics, Danforth moves to his timeline, slicing it into four sections, with the Ottoman Empire playing a starring role as leader of the East through 1922. Its dissolution released a spate of factions whose antagonism to the West exists in various forms to the present. Danforth offers a basic, if oversimplified, explanation of the ideas behind the various strains of Islamic radicalism and why they have gained in popularity. His drawings convey historical conflicts more vividly than many textbooks. Illus. (Nov.)