The Middle East has long been a volatile yet vital region in world politics. In his captivating new book, In the Shadow of the Prophet, journalist Milton Viorst illuminates the complex struggle to reconcile the Muslim community's fierce determination to live by traditional Islamic law and beliefs with the desire for economic and political power in today's world. Throughout the Middle East, a rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism has attempted to overturn moderate or secular government, creating in its place an Islamic state based on the ancient moral code of Muhammad's time. Conservative and fundamentalist sects are violently at odds with those Muslims who feel Islam must find a way to integrate science and democracy into Islamic life. Without an opening up of Islam, the Middle East will continue to lag far behind the West and even emerging Third World nations in terms of its military power, economic might, and general standards of living.