The Crescent Obscured: The United States and the Muslim World, 1776-1815

by Robert J. Allison and Robert Allison

Book Overview

From the beginning of the colonial period to the recent conflicts in the Middle East, encounters with the Muslim world have helped Americans define national identity and purpose. Focusing on America's encounter with the Barbary states of North Africa from 1776 to 1815, Robert Allison traces the perceptions and mis-perceptions of Islam in the American mind as the new nation constructed its ideology and system of government.

"A powerful ending...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226014908
• ISBN13: 9780226014906
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 284 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

The crescent in context

I'll begin with outright shock at the review before mine, which characterizes this book as in the tone of academic elitism. On the contrary, having suffered through volumes of history written for scholars, this book was refreshingly written for a reader of non-fiction generally. While enjoying a background in history that is rather extensive, my grasp of the Barbary Wars can only be explained as limited, and Allison's history served as an excellent buffer of not only the conflicts in Africa, but their social and literary impacts in the United States at the time and their impact in shaping the Islamo-American relations of centuries to come. While this book does not represent Professor Allison's most widely accessible work, it is clearly an early symbol of his academic abilities, which has been echoed and extrapolated since.

The Crescent Clarified

This book could be the quintessential book on U.S. & the Barbary coasts relationships from 1776-1815 the illustrations are really magnificent especially the 17th century portrait of a Moorish king which actually looks like a so called "North American Indian chief in full regalia". The caption also explains how Europeans always thought the Desert dwellers and North American "Indians" were parallel in likeness (because they were and are the same). This book read carefully can bring the reader into understanding the ancient Moors were indigenous to this land (North America); this story is untold in his-story books.

A brilliant work of history

Robert Allison is a historian the world should take note of! The Crescent Obscured unleashes a vein of American history that few American's know about. Put down the trash by David McCullough, and pick up this, or any other book by Robert Allison and you'll be better for it in the end!

The Crescent Obscured

The Crescent Obscured reads like a historical novel. Robert Allison packs the book with romance, adventure, and action. Among his heroes are Steven Decatur and James Riley, and others of this fascinating period of United States history. Allison writes with a wry sense of humor, bringing history alive. The Barbary pirates, the stuff of legends and fairy tales, were real. Allison demystifies the origin of the words to the Marine song: "to the shores of Tripoli." Author Robert Allison's accounts are so vivid, you can almost imagine a movie script in progress. The last chapter of The Crescent Obscured is another extraordinary story, that of James Riley, captain of the Commerce, and his crew. Shipwrecked in the Mediterranean near the Spanish Sahara, James Riley endured two years of captivity, remaining all the while concerned about his crew and trusting Providence for their deliverance. Riley wrote a book about his experiences, called Travels and Sufferings: An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce, Wrecked on the Western Coast of Africa in the Month of August 1815. Not only did Riley recite the events of the captivity in his book, but also made references to the state of slavery. Riley's book was one of six that Abraham Lincoln claimed most influenced him.The Crescent Obscured is history made fun to read. Robert Allison teaches us what influence the Muslim world had on the infant nation. We learn that there certainly was much more than we might have expected before reading Allison's wonderful book.

The Crescent Obsured

I enjoyed the book immensely because in recounting the specific events that led up to the Battle of Tripoli, the author gives insight into issues present in current Muslim World/Western World conflict and provides a historical close-up of US arrogance. The US denounces the enslavement of a few Americans by Muslims while at the same time building a US economy based on the enslavement of millions of Africans.In 1785, while American diplomats struggle to develop treaties with North Africa, three "North African strangers" arrive in Virginia. Instead of the friendly reception expected by the strangers, they were locked up, interrogated, and soon sent back to their own country. To prevent "dangerous aliens" from ever posing such a threat again, the Virginia legislature passed the Virginia act. The act gave the governor the power to deport aliens from countries at war with the US.Thus begins the reader's journey to understanding the beginning of the Western world versus Muslim world conflict-a conflict that predates the existence of a United States. The book ends with the United States humbling the Muslim states of North Africa by declaring and winning a war against Tripoli. From beginning to end the reader is given account after account of varied forms of moral outrage shown by the US towards the Muslim capture of american ships and the enslavement of American crews.