The author focuses on the role of religion, as he sees it, in affecting the creative and intellectual resources needed by nations to develop on their own.The author describes a six-month journey across the Asian continent. V.S. Naipaul explores the culture and the explosive situation in countries where Islamic fundamentalism was growing. His travels start with Iran, on to Pakistan, Malaysia and end in Indonesia, with a short stop in Pakistan and Iran on the return to the UK. (Book content).