Chapters 9, 11, & 12

I find I am increasingly interested as the book moves toward more recent history. I have always enjoyed learning about history, and before now, was not more attracted to early or late history. I am not sure of the reason for this new shift in interests. Even Strayer's repeated assault on all things western doesn't slack my interest in history. He demonstrates his position again and again. On page 412 he writes, "As in China, Muslim societies over much of the past century have been seeking to overcome several hundred years of humiliating European intrusion and to find their place in the modern world." He categorizes the expansion and influence of Europeans as humiliating, however fails to mention that Europe had been "intruded" on in brutal and "humiliating" fashion by the Muslim empire which spread from Spain to India. He mentioned the dome on the mount, which was built where it was in part because of the religious significance of the location, but also as an affront to Jews and Christians. Strayer describes the incursion of the Muslim Empire and the resulting banishment of Christians as a "forced removal from the best lands" yet describes the reversal as a "painful extraction of Muslims from Spain". 

While the repetitive bashing of all things European is tiresome, it was still interesting to read of the inevitable rise and fall of empires. Also, the introduction of the Aztecs and Incas brought the subject a little closer to home. I had read about the Mongols in a book on leadership and found their system of attack and conquer interesting. I did not know that they operated a lot like organized crime does today. Moving into an area, establishing dominance, taking what they wanted and then charging fees for protection is classic mafia business.