For centuries, the world of Islam was at the forefront of human achievement in military and economic power, in politics, and in the arts and sciences. Europe, by comparison, was a backwater, a remote land on the northern fringes of Islamic civilization. Then everything changed and the west began to win one victory after another: on the battlefield, in the market place and in the struggle of ideas. What happened?

In this lecture, Bernard Lewis, one of the leading experts on Islamic history and culture examines western impact on Islam and the Middle Eastern response.