World of Islam

With reprinted articles that span nearly a century from Ella C. Sykes's 1910 consideration of women's powerlessness in Shiite Persia to Edward Girardet's 2001 reflection on Muslim warlords and a surprise conversation with Osama bin Laden the National Geographic Society's The World of Islam, edited by Don Belt, offers a panoramic portrait in words and photographs. Over 150 striking illustrations reveal cities, mosques, marketplaces and battlegrounds, and more than 25 articles cover the rich history of a religion that's practiced today by one person in every five in the world.