The publication in 1988 of Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses triggered a furor that pitted much of the Islamic world against the West over issues of blasphemy and freedom of expression. The controversy soon took on the aspect of a confrontation of civilizations, provoking powerful emotions on a global level. It involved censorship, protests, riots, a break in diplomatic relations, culminating in the notorious Iranian edict calling for the death of the novelist. In The Rushdie Affair , Daniel Pipes explains why the publication of The Satanic Verses became a cataclysmic event with far-reaching political and social consequences. Pipes looks at the Rushdie affair in both its political and cultural aspects and shows in considerable detail what the fundamentalists perceived as so offensive in The Satanic Verses as against what Rushdie's novel actually said. Pipes explains how the book created a new crisis between Iran and the West at the time--disrupting international diplomacy, billions of dollars in trade, and prospects for the release of Western hostages in Lebanon. Pipes maps out the long-term implications of the crisis. If the Ayatollah so easily intimidated the West, can others do the same? Can millions of fundamentalist Muslims now living in the United States and Europe possibly be assimilated into a culture so alien to them? Insightful and brilliantly written, this volume provides a full understanding of one of the most significant events in recent years. Koenraad Elst's postscript reviews the enduring impact of the Rushdie affair. -A well-reasoned, all-inclusive weighing of the edict for the assassination of Salman Rushdie for his -blasphemous- novel, The Satanic Verses . (Pipes) is nothing if not a legal scholar, and here he weighs the pros and cons of Rushdie's act and Muslim ire down to the finest feather's-weight of right and wrong. . . . Does Pipes himself - writing here for an extremely sober audience - have a hidden agenda in his study? Not when he seems to take into account every possible prejudice on both sides and shows them with as much fair-mindedness as can be humanly mustered. Worthy and important.- --Kirkus Reviews -There has been a sudden deluge of books about Salman Rushdie and the attempt to silence him. This book, written by an expert on Middle East politics, is one of the better ones . . . making the book of primary importance in its coverage of this controversy.- --Gordon Stein, Library Journal -The Rushdie Affair is a lucid, balanced, often startling, and ultimately convincing analysis. . . . But the author, who is director of Philadelphia's Foreign Policy Research Institute, is an experienced analyst of the Middle East, and his book is distinguished by its multitude of illuminating explanations for the violence of feeling with which Muslims sometimes reacted to The Satanic Verses . . . worthy. . . . Scrupulously fair, respectful of Islam yet unintimidated by the flood of threats and invective unleashed by The Satanic Verses .- --Mark Caldwell, The Philadelphia Inquirer -This is a highly enjoyable book to read, a work of impeccable scholarship that can be read like a thriller. . . . Pipes offers a number of important conclusions that merit attention at all levels.- --Amir Taheri, Los Angeles Times -Mr. Pipes has earned our gratitude for his scholarly presentation.- --Sol Schindler, The Washington Times -Daniel Pipes, a specialist in Middle Eastern affairs and head of the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, modestly and appropriately disclaims any literary credentials. It is rather his firm understanding of Islamic tradition and shrewd apprehension of political realities that distinguish both his analyses of the Muslim perceptions of blasphemy in Rushdie's work and his essay on the causes and world-wide effects of such perceptions. . . . Pipes the political scientist has an almost obsessive regard for laying equally bare the bones of bias - real or presumed - on both sides. . . . The book, as a whole is a useful gathering of facts, a scrupulous record of world-wide events, an interesting analysis of how the explosion of terror came about and a thoughtful presentation of its probable future effects.- --Beverly Fields, Chicago Tribune -Daniel Pipes, author of five other books on the Middle east and a sympathetic outside observer of Islam. . . . untangles the story so anyone can follow it.- --Tom Blackburn, The Palm Beach Post -Pipes has earned our gratitude for his scholarly presentation.- --Sol Schindler, Insight -[The subject] has been thoroughly examined in scholar-journalist Daniel Pipes' judicious, carefully laced book.- --David Elliott, The San Diego Union - The Rushdie Affair is an extremely well-written and clear analysis of the issues raised. Mr. Pipes, who teaches Middle Eastern affairs at the University of Pennsylvania, comes down firmly against censorship but pays the Muslim critics the compliment of taking their arguments serious