A New Crusade or an Old One?

Scholars frequently acknowledge the force of political Islam in shaping the Muslim societies of Africa and Asia, but seldom consider the role that Christian activism has played in these societies, particularly in the context o f Western imperialism and globalization. Of central importance here is the history of Christian missionary attempts to convert Muslims in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries - a period when the British, French, and Dutch colonial powers lent their protection to European and American evangelical groups that operated within their overseas empires.