This book is a comparative survey of the differences between Western Christendom and Middle Eastern Islam with the avowed objective of reaching some kind of a conclusion about the state of the world today and how we got here.
The book fails on two counts. First, the author tries to answer questions, such as why Middle Eastern scientific development stalled in the 1500s just as the same was getting started in Renaissance Europe, that people dedicate their entire lives trying to answer in just a few pages.
Second, the author never tells us what he thinks has gone wrong. He concludes the book by writing about what various historians believe has gone wrong.
The sixth chapter dealing with the history and significance of secular governments was most interesting. In this chapter Lewis points out that in Islam the church is the state and there is no history of conflict between church and state, whereas in Christianity there has always been a conflicted relationship between church and state that eventually led to the western secular governments of today.
Not a great book.
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