Reviews for Islam Its History, Teaching, and Practices

The average rating for Islam Its History, Teaching, and Practices based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2021-05-19 00:00:00 Corey Hail Australia is a land of paradoxes, not least the fact we are both an island and a continent. Often it is the continent, the land and the bush which has dominated our cultural, strategic and political consciousness. Yet as a nation 'girt by sea' the maritime world is inescapable and important in properly understanding this country. In this fascinating and well told history, Broeze explores the Geopolitics, Economics and Cultural attachments Australia has had with the sea. He shows that the land bias has not always been thus, with changes such as from a purely Anglo-saxon to more European population driving more engagement with the sea (such as by seeking fish to eat), while other trends such as the destruction of the Whaling industry in the early 19th century saw the sheep rise in stature. Dividing the book into three distinct sections provides a neat, easily digestible format, at a small expense to chronological coherence. While now 20 years old, the key stories of our own time, including asylum seekers, an ageing population seeking land to retire and disputes in the South China Sea all speak to the growing importance of the sea in Australian consciousness. This book is a useful starting point to recognising how we are an island nation.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-11-10 00:00:00 Margaret Brown Alexandra Kollontai was the only woman on the Central committee of the Bolshevik party that took power in Russia in 1917 at a time when before the revolution women didn't even have the vote. The biography has good insight into the inspiring journey Alexandra took from criticising the feminist movement for focusing for equal voting rights when poor women had no child support and had to work 14 hours to when she was essentially exiled for her opposition to the new economic policy. The end of her life is quite depressing when she saw many of her revolutionary friends persecuted by Stalin and eventually purged, but ultimately it shows the incredibly inspiring character of kollontai. It's quite a long book so I'd only recommend if you're interested in the relationship of Bolshevik socialism and feminism but if that's what you're into, this is an amazing recount.