Richard Bulliet on the role of Muslims in European history

Richard Bulliet, professor of history at Columbia University, argues that the history of Europe has to be rewritten to correct the portrayal of Muslims. "Violence is the dominant motif of Western histories on Islamic relations. Everyone is reminded on a regular basis that a Muslim army penetrated deep into northern France in 732 before being heroically stopped by Charles Martel at Tours, and another Muslim army laid siege to Vienna in 1529 before being turned back by bad weather and heroic defenders. (…) From episodes like this, today's ideologues concoct a myth of unending and merciless hostility between Islam and the West. (…) Europe needs to come to grips with its past. This could best be done by a multinational commission charged with reviewing every aspect of the history of Muslims in, and versus, Europe."

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