Bernard Lewis is a widely read British historian and the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near Eastern Studies Emeritus at Princeton University. He specializes in the history of Islam and the interaction between Islam and the West. Born to middle-class Jewish parents in London, Lewis graduated from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, performed post-graduate studies at the University of Paris, returned in 1938 to the University of London as an assistant lecturer in Islamic History, once again at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Lewis taught there until 1974, when he accepted a position at Princeton University, becoming an emeritus professor there upon his retirement in 1986. [1]

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, interest in Lewis' work surged, especially his 1990 essay The Roots of Muslim Rage. Lewis is also known for his literary sparrings with the late Professor Edward Said of Columbia University, who critiqued Orientalist scholarship (of which he claimed Lewis's work was a prime example) in his seminal 1978 book, Orientalism.

Bernard Lewis has written over twenty books and numerous articles. Among his more recent books are two that were published after 9/11: What Went Wrong? (written before the attacks) and The Crisis of Islam.

(Fonte wikipedia.org)