I listened to the audio set (6 CDs) of this book, & was really impressed by how much was conveyed in such a short time. It would be appropriate to classroom history of Islam as well. This book is very strong on understanding the Islamic view of religion & politics, religion & society needs, etc., not just a dry recitation of facts. I am really surprised at the negative reviews I read here, I thought this was a very approachable text. Give it a try!

Read the book and open your closed mind! Do NOT generalize about any culture or religion, as some of the 1 star reviewers have done. Those who generalize against any people or religion are nothing more than hypocritical BIGOTS! There is nothing complicated about it. If you look for the bad/good in any religion you will find it. What 1 star reviewers chose to focus on in this healingesque book, exposes their own misgiuded agenda.

Armstrong seems to be aware of the existence of Ibn-Ishaq's text "Sirat Rasul Allah", yet she doesn't seem to have read it. Instead, she uses Qu'ranic verses to show the peaceful nature of Islam. These verses however are often dating from the Meccan period. Very poetic and often very incomprehensible without the Qu'ran commentaries. She ignores the (more militant) verses from the Medinah period. Unfortunuatly she doesn't explain why she cites so arbitrary from the Qu'ran. On a more personal note I think it's academic suicide to support your (secular) view on history with quotes from religious scriptures alone. But than, she probably doesn't have any academic pretentions.

Some information she presents as 'facts' contradicts the sources we have about the formative years of Islam. These sources could be very 'wrong' since most of them were writen after Muhammad's death, but unfortunuatly she doesn't tell us why she thinks she can push them aside. That would be interesting to read. To know how she got to certain findings. But those conclusions lack footnotes and we'll have to assume she knows more about it than any other person in the world.

A very apologetic book which relies more on the imagination of the writer than on what we know about Islam sofar.

This was a great book for trying to understand a very complicated religion. I found it easy to read and very insightful.

Wow what a great book, that educates the reader on facts most westerners don't know concerning Islam. How many westerners know that Arab businessman named Muhammad is the Prophet Muhammad and that he saw himself not as a holy man but as a leader for the left behind and forgotten amongst him?

Or that Islam thru him, began because of how the Christians looked down on the Persians/Arabs, mocking them because they didn't have a holy leader like the Jews and Christians had? This alone should make people want to read the book.

This is, indeed, an elementary work, but as such, I found it enlightening. I gained a sense of the premises of the Koran and how Islam succeeded, within a century of its founding, to spread to North Africa and Spain. I hadn't known a thing about the Mongol invasions, or when Sufism arose, or how the Sunni's and Shia's actually diverged. It was interesting to read about the rise and fall of empires in the middle ages, and the strength of the Ottoman Empire into the 20th century. Reading this book was an engaging and eye-opening experience for me.

Islam: A Short History (Modern Library Chronicles)
This book has gotten some bad 'press' here. "It's too much History" - well that's just what it is! It is clear, concise and well presented. It contains just what most people would want to know about the "what, where, and why" of Islam. It contains a glossary of Arabic terms, notes, suggestions for further reading, an index and study questions. All in all a very well thought out and presented work that all non-Muslim peoples could benefit from reading.

/Rev. Scholtes

I really think this book must be a reference to all those who want to know more about Islam away from the hate-filled sad creatuers who live just to defame Islam.

It is a must read for all REASONABLE people.

This is a really great book to understand Islam. I truly loved this book, and because of its small size, I was able to devour it within two days!

The most interesting chapter as far as I am concerned was on the present conflict between the Jews and the Muslims.

Muslims never hated the Jews. In fact, Muslims and Jews lived together side by side in peace since the beginning of time (so to speak). Prophet Mohammad ordered Muslims to respect Jews and live with them in peace since they are `people of the book' (meaning they have had their own revelations and are thus believers in God). Prophet Mohammad ordered Muslims not to try to convert Jews to Islam against their wish. In fact, Muslims believe in all of the prophets of Judaism, and most if not all are mentioned in the Muslim holy book known as the Qur'an.

Prophet Ibrahim, the father of both Muslims and Jews, had many children. The Jews come from the lineage of one of Ibrahim's sons, while the Moslems come from another of Ibrahim's sons. Therefore, Muslims and Jews are cousins.

Throughout history, Muslims and Jews have fought together side by side. During the crusades they fought together to protect the holy land. During the Muslim occupation of Spain Muslims and Jews fought together side by side against the Europeans. During the British occupation of Palestine, both Moslems and Jews fought together against the British. There has never been any enmity within Jews and Muslims throughout history. It is only after the invasion by the Jews of Palestine, and the formation of the State of Israel on Palestinian land, that the aggression between Muslims and Jews started. That started the flame of hatred between them, and Muslim clerks twisted the sayings of Prophet Mohammad and the Qur'an for political reasons. In other words, they put words into the Prophet's mouth. Things he never said or did not mean were suddenly attributed to him. The Arab world, being uneducated, would blindly follow the teachings of the clergy, and this is where we are today. The hatred between Jews and Muslims is political. It is the same hatred the French had towards the Germans when they invaded Paris during World War II. If the United States were to be invaded today by the Russians or Chinese (or any other nation), the Americans would have the same hatred towards their aggressors as the Muslims have today of the Jews. Like the Muslims, the American citizens would be fighting the aggressor to regain their land by any means possible, even if it means twisting the words of Jesus Christ. For example, love thy neighbor, but only if he loves you. If someone slaps you, turn the other cheek, but then beat the hell out of him! You get the point. The conflict in Palestine is man and woman against man and woman, not Judaism against Islam.

This book will really give you a crash course on Islam. It starts off by explaining why a new prophet was needed in the Arab World. According to Armstrong, the Arabs felt left out for they did not have a prophet of their own. The Jews had many prophets, and there were manuscripts left to them from past prophets. The Arabs did not have monotheistic religious texts of their own in the Arabic language, and thus felt left out. Thus the arrival of Prophet Mohammad, an Arab, was a great welcome to many Arabs. The Qur'an, the holy book descended to Prophet Mohammad, was in the Arabic language, and thus directly accessible to all Arabs, unlike Jewish texts.

Prophet Mohammad did have Arab enemies, of course. Not all Arabs embraced his religion at first. As is so well known today, self-interest and politics plays a big role.

A very important point Armstrong makes is that Islam is a religion of peace. In fact, Islam is derived from the Arabic root "Salema", meaning peace and purity. Prophet Mohammad was against wars. In fact, he made an important treaty with the Meccans to prove his point. Prophet Mohammad preached non-violence. All the Muslim wars and conquests that took place after the death of Prophet Mohammad were politically motivated, not religious in any way. It is very easy to twist the words of a prophet, and all religions have done that with their prophets (look at how many different versions of the Bible are out there). Furthermore, there were many wars waged between Muslims themselves as to who should succeed the prophet. Most of the Prophet's friends and close relatives were eventually murdered as a result. All these actions would have been condemned by the Prophet. Again, man was fighting for his own self-interest and ambition and not in accordance with the holy teachings of Islam (again, as has happened in all religions).

The book then goes on with the history of Islam after the era of the Prophet (632-661). Armstrong explains the era of the Umayyads, the Abbasids, and the esoteric movements. The Muslim world had reached its height in glory, and the whole known world feared the Muslims. The Muslims contributed to philosophy, science, mathematics, and medicine, and Arabic texts were translated into Latin and Greek. The Muslim empire at the time was what the United States is today to the rest of the world.

The Crusades are also explained, as well as the interesting era of the Mongols (1220-1500). The chapter on the Mongol was very interesting, filled with facts and stories I never knew. For example, the Mongols contributed a lot to Islamic art and architecture as well as to the strategies of war. After the Mongol conquests, the Mongols and the Muslims lived together in peace, and were even integrated together. Many Mongols later became Muslims.

Armstrong then moves on to the era of imperial Islam (1500-1700), and introduces the reader to the Safavid Empire, the Moghul Empire, and the Ottoman Empire.

The book ends with a chapter on Islam agonists, and explains how the west finally conquered the Islamic world starting in 1750. This chapter is extremely interesting and entertaining, and will give you a glimpse at the present state of the Muslim world.

Armstrong mentions the book `The Satanic Verses', by Salman Rushdie. Even though the Ayatollah Khomeini condemned the author, and issued a Fatwa (a decree) to have the author killed (with a million dollar reward), all the Islamic clergy of other Islamic nations were against the Ayatollah's decree, citing freedom of speech and expression as an Islamic right. Now isn't this interesting? Again, for political reasons, Muslim citizens are stripped from their freedom of expression, speech, and thought. Outsiders looking at the way of life of Muslims should realize that the way Muslims live is not according to the teachings of their Prophet Mohammad, but according to the selfish greed of their leaders! This is really a very important point for westerners to understand.

This is a very important book and should be read by everyone interested in knowing more about the state of the Arab world and Islam. I highly recommend this book!

This book will explain the basics of Islam, which is all I was looking for.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have since given it to several people, including some military folks with responsibilities in the area. I think this book, better than any other I've read, makes it clear why the Middle East is in the state it is.

Why defend a religion who's holy book hates and despises Jews, Christians and Pagans, and commands husbands to beat their wives.
Of course there have been cases of brilliant people even under Islamic domination, e.g. Omar Khayan, but to attribute their achievements to Islam, is like attributing Galileo's achievements to Catholicism.

I'm going to take exception to all the criticism of the majority of the reviews I see here. While it is a compressed history (one reviewer noted that the middle was "dense") I found the book very enlightening. Another criticism is that she presents an Islamic point of view. Well, if one wishes to understand another culture, religion or whatever, one must 'walk a mile in their shoes'. I know some Muslims and she is quite correct that Islam in not inherently violent. I can only assume that those reviewers are reading the book with their blinders on and refusing to accept that there is any other way to see the world. This book is an attempt to show another world view. If you read this book and miss that, shame on you.

Rarely do I write an online review, but rarely have I been so disappointed with a book. I wanted to read a history of Islam. What I got was the most patent piece of agenda driven spin I have ever read.

For example, did you know that anything wrong with Islam is actually a result of the influence of Christianity? Armstrong tells the reader that Mohamed "loved" Jews and that antisemitism in Islam is solely from the influence of Christianity. We also learn that Mohamed's greatest joy was elevating the role of women in Arab society and that if there is misogyny in Islam, it also comes from Christianity.

When she can can't blame it on Christianity, she just makes it up. For example when she retells the story of how Mohamed and his followers slaughters a tribe of 700 Jews and sell the women and children into slavery, Armstrong tells us, we really shouldn't judge him from modern standards of morality! I guess, murder and slavery is just his way of expressing how much he loves the Jews.

This book is not a history of Islam. It is an absurd politically correct apology for Islam. I am only astounded that any reader would not see right through it.

I started Karen Armstrong's "Islam" while reading an English translation of the Koran. I have to agree up front with the reviewer who states that the book is moderately well written. It is entertaining even if weighed down with unneccesary (and often distracting) terminology. The terminology is used (I think) primarily for show, which is to say, in an effort to bolster the author's credibility in dealing with a foreign topic (viz. Islam). This is understandable, certainly forgiveable.

My entry is still more focused on what the same reviewer also noted: Armstrong's struggle to prove the existence of a non-violent early Islamic history. Like most, if not all, human histories, this task proves to be impossible. One need only read the Koran to see the violence against the infidel, be they pagan non-Muslims or "People of the Book" (Jews, Christians).

As an example of the author's own struggle to prove a peaceable early Islam, she writes: "Their [Muslims] success also edorsed the message of the Quaran, which had asserted that a correctly guided society must propser because it was in tune with God's laws." In the following paragraph she contradicts this sentiment writing, as noted by another reviewer, that "Western people often assume that Islam is a violent, militaristic faith...This is an inaccurate interpretation of the Muslim wars [anyone know of a non-violent war? And here war is plural] of expansion. There was nothing religious about these campaigns..." No? Not according to the Quran. Not according to Armstrong herself who goes on to describe in detail Muhammed's own acts of violence against Jews, pagans and competeing Arab tribes.

The call for peace is great. It is commendable. To seek out the good in people is the right thing to do; but to rewrite history to support such a cause is simply incorrect. It is also poor scholarship.

My one star review is based on my feeling that this book is less a history than one woman's approx 200 page speech on Islam. It is a shame because the first pages which did straight forward recounting of history were very interesting, but then the author just begins opinionating. Even if you are sympathetic to her opinions it is still a very diffult read as any long speech becomes boring after a while. A real shame as this subject deserved a better book.

Excellent beginning and excellent ending, but the middle was quite dense and difficult to follow. I expected a short history to be more general, accessible, easy to read and obtain a broad picture of the religion. Instead, this short history seems to pack the data of a 700 page book into 160 pages. I would have liked more general commentary about development and branches of Islam rather than the dates and accomplishments of ever caliph in the middle ages. Still, I have a much better understanding of what Islam is, how it developed, why it is what it is today. I would recommend it to anyone will to devote the time to it.

When I read a history book, I prefer to have facts presented in an objective manner. This book is seriously flawed by the author's incessant and often illogical opinions of why events took place. I prefer that opinion pieces [pro or con] be clearly labeled as such - to label this book as a "history" is a disservice to the reader. For those of us searching for a neutral, objective history of Islam this book is a disappointment.

When I read a history book, I prefer to have facts presented in an objective manner. This book is seriously flawed by the author's incessant and often illogical opinions of why events took place. I prefer that opinion pieces [pro or con] be clearly labeled as such - to label this book as a "history" is a disservice to the reader. For those of us searching for a neutral, objective history of Islam this book is a disappointment.

Karen Armstrong might as well have stayed in the convent. Her world view has not expanded much since then.

She has used her freedom of speech and I support her in that. I would love to see her visit her friends in Saudi Arabia and try to exercise her freedom of speech there.

This book has a good blend of historical background and an easy reading style. I would recommend this book as a good starting point for anyone who wishes to understand more about a religion that is very much central in current affairs.