Covering Islam

Edward Said was born in Jerusalem in 1935. In 1951 he attended a private preparatory high school in Massachusetts, America and he went on to study at Princeton University for his BA and at Yale for his MA and PhD. He became University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. Said was bestowed with numerous honorary doctorates from universities around the world and twice received Columbia's Trilling Award and the Wellek Prize of the American Comparative Literature Association. He is best known for describing and critiquing 'Orientalism' and his book on the subject was published in 1978. He died in 2003.

"No-one studying the relations between the West and the decolonizing world can ignore Mr. Said's work" New York Times Book Review "Edward Said belongs to that small band of American intellectuals who talk sense (and write beautifully) about the outside world" Guardian "Edward Said is a brilliant and unique amalgam of scholar, aesthete and political activist... He challenges and stimulates our thinking in every area" Washington Post Book World