Book Reviews 139 

Enemy in the Mirror: Islamic Fundamentalism 

and the Limits of Modern Rationalism: 

A Work of Comparative Political Theory 

Roxanne L. Euben 

Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University 

Press; 1999. 239 pages. 

In recent months, the media has been saturated with endless discussions on 
Islamic fundamentalism. People with little or no training in Islamic studies 

have been paraded in front of viewers and readers presenting useless, and at 
times mindless, commentary on Islamic theology and fundamentalism. 

Amid all this hyperbolic discussion, a refreshing and cogent analysis 

can be found in Roxanne L. Euben's excellent Enemy in the Mirror: Islamic 
Fundamentalism and the Limits of Modern Rationa lism. Euben, a Princeton 
Ph.D. who teaches political science at Wellesley College, offers a forceful 

illumination of Islamic fundamentalism, particularly the thought of Sayyid 

Qutb. 
In this serious and intelligent work of comparative politics and political 

theory, Euben seeks, through an interpretive approach, to understand the