Islam And The West

Episode 2

War And Wisdom

While Christian Europe receded into darkness during the Middle Ages, a spectacular cultural blossoming took place in the Islamic world. It arose from the "swords of the spirit," which is how Muslims called science and art. This episode retraces the golden age of Islam and, once again, we adopt the perspective of what is shared, and how one culture profited from the other.

Episode 3

The Challenge

In modern times, the balance of power between East and West shifted. What caused the rupture between the Islamic and the Christian worlds? This episode covers 400 years of history beginning with the definitive routing of the Ottomans at the gates of Vienna in 1683. But while Muslim pirates foster the slave trade off Europe's coasts, Muslims are not involved in the great voyages of discovery