Arab Travellers and Western Civilization

Although there are many accounts of Western travellers in the Arab world, little has been published of Arab travellers in Europe. This book sets out to rectify this imbalance. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the most important means of introducing Arabs to European civilization was through travel. This contact often proved disturbing and even shocking to the Arab travellers, provoking a deep conflict in the values they held, culturally, intellectually, politically and economically. On the one hand, the Arabs admired European progress whilst on the other, they felt threatened in the face of the new Western values. Previously entitled "Impact of the West", this book includes the following subjects examined: nationalism and the nation state; democracy; and freedom and equality as reflected in the writings of Voltaire and the principles underpinning the French Revolution.