This is an examination of the political environment, life and works of the 19th- and 20th-century thinkers who believed that Islam was capable of providing practical solutions to the problems of the modern world. The book provides an account of their contribution to contemporary revolutionary Islam and to political developments in countries from Morocco to Indonesia. The writings and political activity of al-Afghani, Abduh, Khomeini, Mawdudi, Hasan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, Musa al-Sadr, Ali Shariati and Muhammad Baqer As-Sadr are considered, explaining the roots of movements as diverse as the Muslim Brotherhood, the Jama't-i-Islami, the radical Iranian clergy and the militant Shi'i of Lebanon. The book provides an introduction to the complexity and variety of Islamic social thought, dispelling notions of a homogenous Islamic revival and revealing the motivations of the thinkers who have reshaped the political vocabulary of Islam.