The Rushdie Affair: The Novel, the Ayatollah, and the West The Rushdie Affair: The Novel, the Ayatollah, and the West The Rushdie Affair: The Novel, the Ayatollah, and the West is a book written by historian Daniel Pipes, published in 1990. It focuses on events surrounding "The Satanic Verses". The afterword was written by Koenraad Elst. The first part of the book describes "The Satanic Verses" and Ayatollah Khomeini's edict, explaining why Rushdie's book became a controversy . The second part describes responses to the text and criticizes censorship of the book in some countries. Edward Mortimer, in "The New York Times", called the book "an extremely well-written and clear
Knighthood of Salman Rushdie more, the sovereign's choice of who she wishes to honour will never be the subject of intimidation." Tessa Jowell who was Culture Secretary at the time of the knighthood's announcement told reporters that "Salman Rushdie was recognised in the recent honours as one of this country's outstanding writers. In times when terrorist threats beset the way of life in this country and the way of life in this country is being attacked by terrorists, standing up for free speech and freedom of speech is ever more important." On 22 June 2007 dozens of British Muslims (some with scarves masking their