This is the first systematic critique of Edward Said s influential work Orientalism a book that for almost three decades has received wide acclaim voluminous commentary and translation into more than fifteen languages. Said s main thesis was that the Western image of the East was heavily biased by colonialist attitudes racism and more than two centuries of political exploitation. Although Said s critique was controversial the impact of his ideas has been a pervasive rethinking of Western perceptions of Eastern cultures plus a tendency to view all scholarship in Oriental Studies as tainted by considerations of power and prejudice. In this thorough reconsideration of Said s famous work Ibn Warraq argues that Said s case against the West is seriously flawed. Warraq accuses Said of not only willfully misinterpreting the work of many scholars but also of systematically misrepresenting Western civilization as a whole. With example after example he shows that ever since the Greeks Western civilization has always had a strand in its very makeup that has accepted non-Westerners with open arms and has ever been open to foreign ideas. The author also criticizes Said for inadequate methodology incoherent arguments and a faulty historical understanding. He points out not only Said s tendentious interpretations but historical howlers that would make a sophomore blush. Warraq further looks at the destructive influence of Said s study on the history of Western painting especially of the 19th century and shows how once again the epigones of Said have succeeded in relegating thousands of first-class paintings to the lofts and storage rooms of major museums. An extended appendix reconsiders the value of 18th- and 19th-century Orientalist scholars and artists whose work fell into disrepute as a result of Said s work.