The Cartoons That Shook the World Hardcover – Illustrated, 19 Nov. 2009

This book provides a balanced and extremely interesting account of the well-known Muhammad cartoons controversy of 2005, when a page of satirical cartoons portraying the Islamic prophet Muhammad was published in the centre-right Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Like many people my initial reaction, especially as a political cartoonist myself, was to decry any hint of criticism of the cartoons as at worst wild-eyed Islamist fanaticism and at best censorship disguised as timid Western sensitivity. This book describes the social and political backround to the crisis in Denmark itself and explains how the publication of the cartoons was, in many ways, a deliberately provocative act. On the other hand (hence the balance!) the book also outlines the frightening chain of hysteria and misrepresentation (for instance it was claimed and indeed believed in many parts of the Muslim world that the cartoons had included an image of Muhammad as a pig, which was untrue)which ultimately led to almost 200 deaths in anti-Danish riots around the world.

The book presents the exact time line from the publishing of the cartoons in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten September 2005 to April 2009 when the former prime minister of Denmark was appointed secretary-general of NATO which finally kind of closed the case.Most of the events on the time line are well known. It was, however, a surprise to learn that there were in fact two sets of cartoons and it certainly looks as if the medias purposely did try to evoke anger. The book takes the effort to discuss whether the political behavior could have been more diplomatic had the politicians been better informed.Probably the best description of a bad joke which was allowed to ruin international relations.

Wish before I bought this that I had realised that the cartoons being discussed were not included in the book. It is like listening to a radio programme about a ballet or a blind man visiting an art gallery.... I am really frustrated that Amazon's description did not include this information as without the cartoons the text is pretty well useless except as a piece of political polemic. Yale University Press ought to be ashamed of their cowardice in refusing to republish the cartoons and the author should not have allowed this incomplete work to be published. A sad travesty of what should have been an important work.

Reveals large amounts of misunderstanding about false cartoons and wrong facts about alleged incidents

This book is a scholarly yet readable account of the controversy surrounding the publication of the "Danish cartoons" in September 2005. The author, a Danish-born professor of comparative politics at Brandeis University, writes authoritatively and fairly, analyzing the remarkable story of how twelve cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad led to protests, embassy bombings, boycotts, and many deaths in over a dozen countries. Last summer, just weeks before publication, the book and Prof. Klausen were the subject of extensive news coverage after the publisher, Yale University Press, decided not to include the cartoons in the book -- out of concern that to do so would incite further violence in Muslim countries. Of course the cartoons are readily available on the Internet, a point made by Yale in its "Publisher's Statement." Whatever the merits of the publisher's decision, the book, less than 200 pages (plus footnotes), stands very much on its own. It should be on the reading list of anyone interested in the tension between freedom of expression and sensitivity to religion -- a subject that will undoubtedly continue to fuel debate and disagreement around the world.

The positive part is that Klausen offers a rich and precise account of the facts and people involved in the Danish Catoon-affair. On the other hand, she seems to offer all the evidence against the point she tries to make: that although rioting and killing all over the world, burning embassies, and issuing death threats is wrong, the West is somehow responsible for "offending" Muslims and thus partially to blame for the despicable savagery that was the result of the publication of a few satirical cartoons in a small Scandinavian liberal democracy.

A very informative book, diminished only by the omission of images of the Danish cartoons which caused the uproar.In a free society, someone is always offended by political cartoons, but we don't stop the cartooning. The furor in the Middle East was created, intentionally by Imams in Europe, who added cartoons depicting people as pigs, which related to a French Festival, wholely unconnected with the Danish cartoons. Unfortunately, the Muslims in the Middle East did not know this, and exploded into violence. In Islam, to criticize is to blaspheam. We, in the West should not allow ourselves to be intimidated into compliance with Islamic beliefs.

and this book does. i recommend it and its complimentary "muhammed: the banned images." you should be free to choose what you see, and not have big brother tell you what it will let you see. thought provoking and very entertaining.