FROM RUSHDIE TO 7/7
The radicalisation of Islam in Britain
By Anthony McRoy. The Social Affairs Unit. 236 pages. £16.99
ISBN 1 904863 09 4
This fascinating book was published in late March with the claim that it is ‘the first book to offer a comprehensive and authoritative overview of the radicalisation of the Islam in Britain’. Perhaps its claim to be the first such book is somewhat blinkered, yet it certainly is a very thorough treatment of the pressing question as to why much of British Islam is so evidently more political, and arguably more militant, in 2006 than it was 20 years ago.
Its author is well qualified to handle the subject. Anthony McRoy is an academic journalist and noted authority on Islam. He is also a thoroughgoing evangelical Christian, who lectures part-time in Islamics at the Evangelical Theological College of Wales in Bridgend. This book is based on painstaking research, including personal interviews with significant figures from the Islamic community in Britain.
