Professor Maxime Rodinson was a French historian, sociologist and renowned specialist on Islam and the Arab world. Rodinson was a talented linguist and a committed Marxist, despite his dramatic split from the French Communist Party in 1958. He died in 2004 aged 89.

Maxime Rodinson was and remained the most delightful person you could imagine, with a scrupulous honesty that one would like to find in more intellectuals.

• Foreword by Gilbert AchcarAuthor's Preface to the Original English Edition1. Marxism Ideas and the Study of the Muslim World2. The Nature and Function of Myths: Marxist Communism and Arab Nationalism Compared3. Relationships between Islam and Communism4. Problems Facing the Communist Parties in Syria and Egypt5. Marxism and Arab Nationalism6. The Bolsheviks and Colonized Muslims7. A Forgotten Precursor8. Islam and the Modern Economic Revolution9. The Political Structure under Nasser10. Islam as a Political Factor in Egypt after Nasser11. On the Contemporary Culture of the Muslim World12. A Marxist Policy for the Arab Countries

Professor Maxime Rodinson was a French historian, sociologist and renowned specialist on Islam and the Arab world. Rodinson was a talented linguist and a committed Marxist, despite his dramatic split from the French Communist Party in 1958. He died in 2004 aged 89.

Maxime Rodinson was and remained the most delightful person you could imagine, with a scrupulous honesty that one would like to find in more intellectuals.

• Foreword by Gilbert AchcarAuthor's Preface to the Original English Edition1. Marxism Ideas and the Study of the Muslim World2. The Nature and Function of Myths: Marxist Communism and Arab Nationalism Compared3. Relationships between Islam and Communism4. Problems Facing the Communist Parties in Syria and Egypt5. Marxism and Arab Nationalism6. The Bolsheviks and Colonized Muslims7. A Forgotten Precursor8. Islam and the Modern Economic Revolution9. The Political Structure under Nasser10. Islam as a Political Factor in Egypt after Nasser11. On the Contemporary Culture of the Muslim World12. A Marxist Policy for the Arab Countries

Professor Maxime Rodinson was a French historian, sociologist and renowned specialist on Islam and the Arab world. Rodinson was a talented linguist and a committed Marxist, despite his dramatic split from the French Communist Party in 1958. He died in 2004 aged 89.

Maxime Rodinson was and remained the most delightful person you could imagine, with a scrupulous honesty that one would like to find in more intellectuals.

• Foreword by Gilbert AchcarAuthor's Preface to the Original English Edition1. Marxism Ideas and the Study of the Muslim World2. The Nature and Function of Myths: Marxist Communism and Arab Nationalism Compared3. Relationships between Islam and Communism4. Problems Facing the Communist Parties in Syria and Egypt5. Marxism and Arab Nationalism6. The Bolsheviks and Colonized Muslims7. A Forgotten Precursor8. Islam and the Modern Economic Revolution9. The Political Structure under Nasser10. Islam as a Political Factor in Egypt after Nasser11. On the Contemporary Culture of the Muslim World12. A Marxist Policy for the Arab Countries