Islam and the Victorians: Nineteenth Century Perceptions of Muslim Practices and Beliefs

This book brings to life Victorian Britain’s conceptions and misconceptions of the Muslim World using a thorough investigation of varied cultural sources of the period. She discovers the prevailing representation of Muslims and Islam in the two major spheres of British influence – India and the Ottoman Empire – was reinforced by reoccurring themes: through literature and entertainment the public saw “the Mahomedan” as the “noble savage”, a perception reinforced through travel writing and fiction of the “exotic east” and the “Arabian Nights”.