Using examples ranging from Iran to Morocco, the author discusses how the meeting of two incompatible worlds leads to a profound distortion not only in how the Muslim world sees the West, but in how it sees itself. Fifteen chapters discuss the stages that lead to the distortions: the split, the ontological displacement, the field of distortions, and social foundations of the distortions. Previously published in French, Turkish, Spanish and Arabic, this is the first English edition. No subject index. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.