In words and pictures, The World of Islam showcases the best of almost a century of National Geographic magazine's unique coverage of the history, culture, and religion of Islam. From Afghanistan to Mecca to Indonesia this book illuminates the fascinating diversity of the Islamic world at a time when interest in the subject runs high. A timely look at a timeless culture, The World of Islam looks back on a century of classic NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC coverage of Islamic culture all over the world. As always a wonderful mix of photographs, narratives, maps, and more, these chronologically-arranged articles will take you from the Afghan frontier in the fierce days of Rudyard Kipling to the stunning mosques and minarets of Mecca at the start of a new millennium. Islam's long, rich tradition and often far-flung and exotic locales have been explored again and again in the pages of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, and this volume revisits them all, from the very first article in 1906 to the present day. This dramatic, profusely illustrated expedition collects two dozen pieces that add up to a historical and geographical portrait of Islam and a vivid glimpse of how it has appeared to Western eyes for almost a century.