Presents a systematic critique of Edward Said's work "Orientalism". This book looks at the destructive influence of Said's study on the history of Western painting, especially of the 19th century, and shows how the epigones of Said have succeeded in relegating thousands of first-class paintings to the lofts and storage rooms of major museums. "Ibn Warraq’s critique of Said’s thought and work is thorough and convincing, indeed devastating to anyone depending on Saidism. It should force the Saidists to acknowledge the sophistry of their false prophet."
—Middle East Quarterly, reviewed by A.J. Caschetta

"Ibn Warraq has written a brilliant and luminous book of cultural analysis and intellectual history. He reminds us of so many precious things in the West - and of it - that are worth upholding in the face of critics who enjoy Western liberties and denigrate them at the same time. This is more than a demolition of Edward Said's Orientalism: In its own right, it is an exquisite inquiry into the great ideas at play in our world."
—Fouad Ajami, professor at The Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, and author of The Foreigner's Gift

"For decades Edward Said enjoyed the best that Western academic life had to offer - international celebrity, plaudits, honors and fame beyond the wildest dreams of most professors - while constantly bashing the history, values, and policies that have made this privileged existence possible. In Defending the West the eminent intellectual Ibn Warraq exposes with razor sharp precision the hypocrisy of Said's writings as well as the perverted academic culture that has made his great success possible. With this important new book Ibn Warraq has once and for all dispatched Orientalism to the dustbin of history." 
—Efraim Karsh, head of Mediterranean Studies, University of London, and author of Empires of the Sand and Islamic Imperialism: A History