Islamism since the time of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (d. 1897), the forerunner of modern Islamist activism and a prime advocate of Islamic unity, has possessed an international, pan-Islamic dimension.

What may have turned the tables so dramatically in the last 50 years, Mishra explains brilliantly, are the ideas of some of the lesser-known thinkers of the East: the Persian-born ...