Trifkovic's work is an excellent overview of many issues regarding Islam. Especially important are sections covering brief histories of various regions that don't normally receive much attention, such as Bosnia, Kosovo, Chechnya, and others. He reports 14 centuries worth of massacres of Christian, Jew, and other non-Muslim populations in depressing detail, but his thorough research indicates truthfulness we will never see in the mainstream media. It is in a rather academic writing style, so some readers will need to keep a dictionary handy, but it is well worth the effort.

Trifkovic's work is an excellent overview of many issues regarding Islam. Especially important are sections covering brief histories of various regions that don't normally receive much attention, such as Bosnia, Kosovo, Chechnya, and others. He reports 14 centuries worth of massacres of Christian, Jew, and other non-Muslim populations in depressing detail, but his thorough research indicates truthfulness we will never see in the mainstream media. It is in a rather academic writing style, so some readers will need to keep a dictionary handy, but it is well worth the effort.

If you want to know the truth about the radical Islamic threat to the West, this book is full of great information. I was underlining on many pages in my copy and plan to keep it rather than sell it as used here at Amazon. This book is a keeper. I highly recommend this book.

So many good reviews have been written I will be short. Serge Trifkovic a journalist contends Islam is not "a religion of peace" but one of "violence and cruelty." He analyzes Islamic theology and practice set forth by teachings of the prophet Muhammad and the Koran to demonstrate the historical roots of jihad and Islamic militancy.

Q: What's this? "I love you, ouch!"... "And I love you, ouch!"
A: Two porcupines on a date.

This politically incorrect guide to Islam reads like a college textbook. It is not poorly written; however, it does make for some dry reading (hence the 3 stars). If you feel that your buddy at work just has to read this book, don't give it to him; he won't find the interest to plow through it versus watching a Seinfield rerun. That doesn't mean that Trifkovic's work should be ignored, just slightly dreaded. Robert Spencer is easier to read. Mark Steyn is more humorous and entertaining. For the subject at hand, you might consider reading one of them first. As a synopsis of this book's content, let me suggest that the reader can equate the ideology at hand with the Borg Collective's play book. Whereas the Borg have the technical advantage, Islam will continue to spread through inevitable demographic dynamics. The bumps along the way include that type of tomfoolery so profiled in Darfur Now.

Q: Why is that joke at the top of this review?
A: Books such as Trifovic's and their reviews in formats such as this are crucial; however, it happens not without concern of getting pricked.

Note: Be vague, be very vague.

This is a very slow read, but a tremendous reference. A factual recount of the history of the world's fastest growing religion. It quotes "chapter and verse" and should prove to be irrefutable. Inform yourself about what they did and why. Every statement is backed by footnotes and references to other authors and the Koran itself. An extensive bibliography is included.

I highly recommend this read. It is an excellent analytical look at Islam unrestricted by current political trends of boundless unwarranted apologetics for any idea crying victimhood (Islam). It deals in the facts and is well referenced.

I was so impressed by this book & the points that the author made regarding why the non Muslim world needs to be on guard regarding Islam & what they intend for the rest of the world that I have bought & sent it to others. How anyone could conceive that Islam is a religion of peace is beyond me even if they never read anything about their believes. All one need do is to have paid attention to the actions of this "religion" during the last 10 years to understand what is all about. I have been in several Muslim countries &, after reading this book plus a few others, now understand why they are dirty & backward & the people have a real negative, dishonest attitude. This quote from page 206 sums up some of what is wrong with the religion: " According to the World Bank, the total exports of the Arab countries (other than fossil fuels) amount to less than those of Finland, a country of 5 million inhabitants. There are at least 50 Arabs to each Finn of the Prophet:

I was so impressed by this book & the points that the author made regarding why the non Muslim world needs to be on guard regarding Islam & what they intend for the rest of the world that I have bought & sent it to others. How anyone could conceive that Islam is a religion of peace is beyond me even if they never read anything about their believes. All one need do is to have paid attention to the actions of this "religion" during the last 10 years to understand what is all about. I have been in several Muslim countries &, after reading this book plus a few others, now understand why they are dirty & backward & the people have a real negative, dishonest attitude.The Sword of the Prophet: Islam; History, Theology, Impact on the World

Malaysia and Indonesia are biggest Islamic Countries in the World. Islamic army have never reached to these far lands. Islam has spread there through good practices of Muslim business men. And islam now is fastest growing religion in the USA and the whole world despite of constant attack of western media and crusaders.
Thank you.

The Sword of the Prophet gives an unvarnished look at Islam by means of its history. We see its foundations, its unifying spirit but also its sects and factions, its periods of expansion and of decay, its theology and the cultures it forms. Trifcovic also shows Islam's disdain for values of the modern West: tolerance, personal freedom, individualism, competition, non-violence, progress, and the like.

This book draws on a huge wealth of history about Islam and Muhammad. The historical references speak for themselves as to a "religion of peace" which cannot be legitimately claimed for either Muhammad or Islam. Anyone interested in historical accuracy and truth needs to read this book. It will not be possible to have a dialogue with adherents to Islam until the historical record as presented by Trifkovic - and others - becomes accepted.
It is unfortunate that defenders of Islam and Muhammad - Islamic and non-Islamic - refuse to acknowledge the Islamic past of slaughter, rape, pillage and enslavement. In the West, millions and millions of pages and tens of thousands of scholars have detailed the history of Western Civilization, with all its warts, wars, advances and discoveries. Yet attempts to explore the history of Islam are too often met with anger, denial, threats and outright lies. Why? As the great Bernard Lewis has said, because of opposition to the truth, it is difficult for an academic to pursue topics such as Islamic racism and slavery.
This book goes a long way in shedding light on a very unsavory past. Muslims and Islamophiles need to admit it.
I have a few quarrels with the methods or lack thereof with sourcing. Footnotes need to be done more correctly and statements in the text need to be referenced more fully.
Head and shoulders above his Defeating Jihad.
Dr. Robert D. Foster

This book draws on a huge wealth of history about Islam and Muhammad. The historical references speak for themselves as to a "religion of peace" which cannot be legitimately claimed for either Muhammad or Islam. Anyone interested in historical accuracy and truth needs to read this book. It will not be possible to have a dialogue with adherents to Islam until the historical record as presented by Trifkovic - and others - becomes accepted.
It is unfortunate that defenders of Islam and Muhammad - Islamic and non-Islamic - refuse to acknowledge the Islamic past of slaughter, rape, pillage and enslavement. In the West, millions and millions of pages and tens of thousands of scholars have detailed the history of Western Civilization, with all its warts, wars, advances and discoveries. Yet attempts to explore the history of Islam are too often met with anger, denial, threats and outright lies. Why? As the great Bernard Lewis has said, because of opposition to the truth, it is difficult for an academic to pursue topics such as Islamic racism and slavery.
This book goes a long way in shedding light on a very unsavory past. Muslims and Islamophiles need to admit it.
I have a few quarrels with the methods or lack thereof with sourcing. Footnotes need to be done more correctly and statements in the text need to be referenced more fully.
Head and shoulders above his Defeating Jihad.
Dr. Robert D. Foster

I wish all our leaders in Washington would read this book.
Islam is a very great danger to Western values.

I wish all our leaders in Washington would read this book.
Islam is a very great danger to Western values.

THIS DEFINATLEY TELLS THE TRUTH ABOUTH THE RELIGION OF THE PROPHET, AND THEIR PLAN OF WORLD DOMINATION.

THANKS ~

Excellent book for seeing the islam that some like to ignore, or even rationalize for. this book will open your eyes and you will lose sleep when the reality of islams role in the world becomes clear. The beliefs of islam the media and the muslims will not tell you about. You will not be able to stop looking into the history and current state of islam after reading this. Some are happy to walk around blindly, so be warned once your eyes are open there's no going back to your old comfort zone. and very well documented, i suggest find a web site that has an english koran to read for yourself the passages cited in trifkovics' book. once your done reading be sure to pass this book on to a friend or relative.

This book clearly explains the history of Islam and how the religion functions.

I have purchased numerous books in my attempt to fully understand what is happening in the world of Islam and its current conflict with the West and specifically with the USA. This is the book that finally helped me to begin to comprehend the situation. It is well written and fairly easy to read. The references are comprehensive and the objectivity seems to be very good. It was the first book that outlined the life and times of the prophet and then the history of Islam from then to the present.

What an eye opener. I will probably be buying copies for several of my friends and co-workers.

The history of Islam is riddled with murder and massacre and the record is undeniable.

In my own words I will say that Islam is a cancer on humanity that victimizes its followers at many levels. Most especially women.

This book is a must-read.

Liberals and Muslims usual whining and lies aside, this is a great an honest view of the brutal ideology of Muhammed's Islam....spot on....we are in WW 3 and have been for 1400 years with Islam....this book only points out the reason why Muslims the world over are fomenting hate and murder from the Phillipines to Algeria and all points in between!!

The only caveat I would say is that the best books I have found on Islam aside from this one is books by Ex Muslims....they have an insiders knowledge of Islam that cannot be beat....otherwise full kudos to this book!!

"The Sword of the Prophet" is well worth the discerning reader's time and money - buy it. Having bought it, be aware of a few problems. As you read this book, you will get a valuable alternate perspective on the history, theology, and impact on the world of Islam. The author provides exhaustive documentation to support his thesis that the current violence, oppression, and terrorism of Islamofascists is fully equivalent to the violence, oppression, and terrorism committed by the bad eggs among many previous generations of Muslims, back to the original rotten egg, Muhammed. You may also experience the curious dissonance which I did, in that Trifkovic is a close descendent and cultural product of an Orthodox Christian population in Serbia which was directly and savagely oppressed by Turkish Muslims. Though Trifkovic does not make it openly a part of his work, I would be hard put to argue with a reader who thought this author's hatred for Islam and its practitioners was visceral. Being aware of this possible bias, you may enjoy the excellent scholarship and analytical skills of a superb writer. A similar book, Robert Spenser's "Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam", has the more familiar cultural bias of an American author and is a lot more fun to read. Trifkovic's primary advantage over Spencer is his careful demonstration and documentation that Islam from generation to generation has produced a consistent yield of oppression, violence, and the death of any non Islam culture in Islam lands. There is something evil or at least dark in the very heart of Islam.

Until I read this book I was not aware of an international Islamic movement, even though the events of 911, the bombings in Bali, the bombings in Spain and elsewhere, are a pretty good hint.

Mr. Trifkovic exposes the history behind this invented religious movement, how Mohammad fashioned Allah after his own image, and the dangerous intolerance of Islam to all things not Islam, including other religions.

Mohammad placed the Arab and specifically the Arab Moslem above all other humans; with this argument, his laws prohibiting other faiths, ordering Moslems to kill non-Moslems, and in general moving humanity in a retrograde fashion. I am shocked at how little I knew about Islam, and I recommend this book to anyone who feels the need to become informed. It might help to have a copy of the Quran so one can verify the passages quoted during the reading.

In closing, even though this book was not written in order to spread fear and distrust, I must admit that I see Islam in a different light now, and I feel that Islam is the biggest threat to the free world as we know it.

I have just begun reading the book and I am absolutely stunned! All these years of PC teaching have been shielding us from the truth. Dr Trifkovic has definitely taken time over his research into history. The data he provides can basically stand on it's own. In my humble opinion he has successfully shown the basis of Islam in paganism adapted to Mohammed's self serving interests. Who can argue with the fact of divine revalation whenever he wants to satisfy a desire. Now whether this is true or not I do not know.

In our free society we need to have books such as these presented to the public so that an honest debate can take place. Our liberal media has been filtering and providing information strictly in a PC nature which is unfair to both the muslim and infidel. It is disappointing to see the rantings in some of the reviews decrying the racism of the other by attacking his ethnic heratige which in itself is racist.

My recommendation is ignore the drivel and read the book for yourself. Form your own opinion! I think you may be surprised at what you find out.

Anyone who thinks Islam is "just another religion" will be forever diabused of that notion upon reading this. On page 207, Trifkovic neatly sums up the book: "Islam is revolutionary in outlook, extremist in behavior, totalitarian in ambition." For proof, he cites historical evidence from Muhammud to present day--a history characterized mainly by bloody oppression and stifling intolerance. Islam, according to Trifkovic, is the other end of the spectrum from the secular ideology that currently runs the show in the West: whereas secularism permits everything, Islam permits nothing (he hastens to point out, however, that both ideologies run away from the natural law, and that is the source of the trouble). To me, the most interesting points of the book were--
1. That Islam is more than a religion, it is an ideology encompassing faith, politics, all aspects of society and culture. Whereas Jesus said "render unto Caesar", no such distinction exists in Islam. Trifkovic frequently compares Islam to communism and fascism, only a more potent version. Like these other ideologies, Islam cannot "peacefully coexist" with other belief systems or political structures within a society. The end game is total control.
2. That Islamic governements incited ethnic cleansings of massive proportions in the 20th century, actions that have been surpressed in the West for a variety of economic, political, and ideological reasons. Trifkovic's accounts of the horrors of Smyrna, where the entire Greek Orthodox population was wiped out, and similar, larger scale assaults in Armenia, India, the Balkans, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Sudan, are truly horrific even compared to 9-11.
3. That, appallingly, Western policy since 1900 has been one of consistent appeasement. Greed entices us to value oil profits over our own safety. Moral relativism blinds us to the possiblity that we could be facing an enemy willing to die for its absolute beliefs. Cultural self-hatred leads us to embrace or at least tolerate any value system that isn't Judeo-Christian. Trifkovic believes that unless we face reality, and face it fast, Western culture, and those of us who inhabit it, are done for.

Pretty disturbing stuff--how much is accurate and how much a distortion or exaggeration I don't know. However, it's safe to assume that whatever we get in our mainstream media is probably off the mark, and pronouncments from special interest groups on all sides are self-serving. Therefore it makes good sense to learn as much as possible, considering all points of view: knee-jerk reactions to the challenge of Islam or running away from it are equally dangerous.

It's a shame that those who criticize Srdja Trifkovic and The Sword of the Prophet are not able to refute Trifkovic's work itself. As a matter of fact, many of the reviewers who reviewed this book negatively state that Trifkovic is an Islam hater and, because he isn't Muslim or because he's not an admirer of the Arab culture and Islamic religion, his opinion should be disregarded. Nothing could be further from the truth. Who would you want to get valid information from? Someone who studied and formed a valid opinion based on fact and history? Or, someone born into Islam-- a religion that, according to the Koran, it is blasphemous to critique and question? It's not that Trifkovic disliked Islam and then decided to condemn it, it's that he learned about it, studied it, and drew these conclusions based on what he learned. And, he learned it from history, from Islamic scholars and from the Koran.

Trifkovic's book is one of the best on the subject. He sources all of his material abundantly. He is concise. He states opposing viewpoints and common beliefs and refutes them irrefutably. He cites the Koran and sources the place. This isn't opinion Trifkovic shares. These are facts that he enlightens his readers with. There really isn't too much room for debate, because he is only citing facts that have happened in history and the Koran itself. And, as you can guess, he's not an apologist by any means.

The common belief that Islam is a "religion of peace" is false. According to Islam, we are always in the "house of war", but strive to be in the "house of peace". What's the house of peace, you ask? Well, according to Islam, we will be in the "house of peace" when the whole world is Muslim. And, the whole world will be Muslim by committing Jihad. These are the facts of Islam. Like it or not. What is going on in Sudan? What was the Beslan school massacre about? The Southern Philippines and elsewhere? Believe it or bury your head in the sand like so many others do today.

I would also recommend Steven Emerson's American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us and David Pryce-Jones' Closed Circle: An Interpretation of the Arabs.

... is they haven't READ the book!

I often find conservative books with this same type of reveiews.

Many, many one star reviews with an emotional appeal based on the reviewers opinion of what they consider a personal attack on their belief systems.

Often however, the author who goes against the 'Politically Correct' mainstream goes way out of their way to back up the book with much more research than is normal for this type of book. Author Ann Coulter with her 1000's of references for a 250 page book comes to mind.

This book is the same. While we hear emotional wailing and gnashing of teeth from the pro-Islamic side, the author does a commendable job of staying off emotional issues and sticking to well researched facts.

Well written and engaging, this is a great review of history even for those who are not particularly interested in religious history.

After 65 Pages I could hardly believe what I was reading. After another 60 I had trouble NOT thinking about it's message. A real wake up call to take this segment of humanify serious. I keep hoping the next page will offer some real hopeful changes....I'll add a review if it does.

An important work in today's world.
Well after another 150 pages it only gets more 'scary." The history section is excellent. The prognosis for the future of this war on terroism is a bit frightening.

I hope our leaders pay attention.

From the President of the United States on down to your local school teacher, people are afraid to tell the whole truth about Islam. Srdja Trifkovic is an exception. With ample footnotes and sourcing - including an examination of the core documents of Islam itself - Trifkovic dismantles the idea that Islam is a peaceful, tolerant religion, satisfied to maintain a position of conciliar equality with the world's other great religions. No, the history is quite different, and so is the current reality. Trifkovic lays it all out in plain sight, fact by alarming fact.

There are people who do not want you to read this book, and who will indeed try to prevent you from reading this book. They do not want you to know about the second-class citizenship, fear, and discrimination that is the fate of every non-Muslim living in a Muslim country. They do not want you to know that jihad - not spiritual jihad, but militant jihad - is sanctioned both in the Koran and the Hadith (sayings of Mohammed).

The book has many critics, but notice that they never point to specific factual errors. Instead, they rely on personal attacks against the author, questioning his motives and politics. Efforts are underway to suppress the circulation and advertisement of this book, so read it while you still can.

Mr Trifkovic has done a superb job of incapsulating Islam in 300 pages. It certainly was a welcome relief from all the pap coming out of the main stream media. I suspect that Saudi money has a way of manipulating the truth about Islam. Don't put much reliance on those who gave the book one star. I suspect a combination of Saudi monetary influence and left wing diversity nuts. Notice how unspecific their criticisms are.
Islam is a religion and form of government all rolled into one. Once they gain critical mass, they institute Sharia. If you're not a Muslim, you're a second class subject. And that's putting it mildly.
And next time you hear some apologist for Islam say it is the religion of peace, direct them to the genocide being committed by the Muslim government of the Sudan against the Christians in the Southern Sudan.
Buy this book, you will not be disappointed.

Note to Morsey -- The growth of the world's muslim people is generally keeping pace with trends of the past 25-40 years. Look at the Census bureau's website for international population statistics, and compare the statistics for Europe to those of the Middle East. Where Europe has long had below zero-population growth fertility (ZPG > 2.1 children per female, and most European countries have a total fertility rate of <1.4 children per female), many middle eastern countries have a very high fertility rate. For example, Saudi Arabia averages more than 6.3 children per female as do the women of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and nearly a dozen Muslim majority countries. In fact, the population of the world's Muslim majority countries more than doubled between 1950 and 1975, and then more than doubled again between 1975 and 2000. That equates to a greater than 3% per year rate of growth. Compare that rate of natural increase to Europe's or Japan's -- both Europe and Japan are expected to enter a sustained period of population decline.

[...]

So, where the author mentions these statistics he's not creating them out of thin air. The Population Research Bureau and the UN would be commonly available resources to verify the claims of the author.

Athe West's share of the world's population recedes, the author makes a good point -- It is worth getting to know our new neighbors whose share of the world's population is increasing so dramatically.

This Srdja guy....the aurthor....has a B.S...in B.S...
stay away from this piece of mindless and racist rant...

Nothing makes a human jerk as when a sensitive wound is touched. So it is with the latest reviews here on this site. The fact that so many negative reviews are posted shows, quite easily, that it has hit a sensitive spot with Muslims when it comes to their beliefs and culture. Usually, when things aren't true, people just brush them off with the nothingness they contain, but when real evidence is brought forth, that is when anger begins on the part of the guilty.

Most often, when Muslims are confronted with facts of history or the Qur'an they fall back on one, two, three, or all four of these arguments;
a) They claim racisms, bigotry, whomever is a Crusader, etc.
b) They fall back on the old claim of "You have to read it in Arabic!" and "You're taking it out of context" (Trust me, it's not nearly as different as they want you to think, in fact, it's just about the same. Second, b/ the Qur'an is considered by Muslims to be the "Eternal Word of Allah", none of it can be taken out of context, every verse is in context just on it's own, otherwise, it is the "Temporal and Easily Manipulated Word of Allah.").
c) They just deny it flat out and then will often times get angry when it is insisted and/or further proven.
d) Finally, and one of the most common, they just starting making up things about the religion of the person they are talking to in an attempt to take pressure off of there own.

I don't blame them for wanting to do that at all, it still is wrong, though. I am earning a triple major in Religious History, Arabic Studies, and Journalism and can tell you, as a fact, that the history he presents in this book is, unfortunately, indeed quite correct. It really is rather un-PC, though. Many of the previous reviewers are fairly uneducated on the subject. At the same time, you have to be generous with them because they have been schooled in Islamic History in either a) Muslim countries or b) Muslims schools in their areas; neither of which would be for presenting anything which would make Islam look bad, in other words, they have been conditioned to think otherwise and reject all ideas which are in contrast to their own instead of logically analyzing and considering them.

The fact of the matter is that from the very beginnings of Islam, as recorded by Ibn Ishaq, Al Gahazzi, etc. (Muhammed's biographers from very early on in Islamic history), fear, murder, rape, and genocide were used as tools for Muhammed to gain adherents. After all, who was it who massacred the Jewish tribe the Banu Qurayzha in Medina in 627? Who else massacred the Jews of Khaybar in 629 under the pretense of a white flag? By the way, who else was it that turned Medina (at first named Yathrib) into a police state? It was Muhammed working under the disguise of a religious prophet.

I must, though, make light of some comments in a review which I just read. The reason being is that this man blatantly slanders and lies about the author and history. His words are in quotes whereas mine have ** before a paragraph.

"Serge Trifkovic in his infamous book "The Sword of the Prophet" has gone far beyond bigotry and smear campaign against Islam. The notorious author has attempted to portray Islam as a violent religion whose adherent rulers committed genocide of ruled class, and that Judaism and Christianity are a religion of civilized society."

**It is a well proven fact that Islamic leaders have committed atrocious genocides on those of other religions dating all the way back to Muhammed himself and culminating with the Turks. In fact, right now Janjaweed Arab Muslim tribesmen are exterminating Christians and Animists in the Sudan and have been since the early 80's. It is believed as many as 3,000,000 have been murdered, died because of famines caused by the war, and/or been tortured to death. But we can't judge, it's just another religion, right? Wrong.

"Even a casual reader of history must condemn his fictious description of the world politics."

**I'm a Religious History major and I accept it because I know history extremely well, not to boast, though.

"Civilized nature of Judaism can very well be witnessed in widespread and continuous ethnic and religious cleansing of Palestinians from their homeland in the name of alleged and rubbish biblical prophesy."

**That entire area was once Christian and they were eventually exterminated by the Ottoman Turks beginning right after the Crusades and up through the beginning of the 20th century.

"These Zionist terrorists have complete backing of Christian fundamentalists who encourage and condone mass slaughters in the name of a covenant with God. Whole world is aware of genocide and massacres committed by zealous Christian crusaders in the Middle East. If Islam had preached as much hatred as these Christian crusaders had practiced, Muslims would not have left Spain in the hand of Catholics"

**The Muslims had to be forcibly removed from Spain, they didn't "Leave it in the hand[s] of Catholics." More over, All of Turkey was once Christian, with a sizable Armenian population, enough that in 1923, 1.3 million Christians could leave Turkey for Greece. Those who left were the sole survivors of Islamic Dhimmitude, rape, massacres, and pillaging.

"or India in the hand of Hindus after over 800 years of rule. Muslim rulers had resources to convert the ruled class or expel them from their homeland but were forbidden to do so by Quran.

**Nowhere in the Qur'an is it forbidden to convert those of other religions. In fact, just read Sura (chapter) 9, verse 5 is the most graphic. "Slay the infidels wherever you find them until they pay the alms and do the prayers [presumably to Allah]..." That entire Sura abrogates [Islamic doctrine of one verse replacing another] all earlier "revelations" condoning what had been peaceful co-existence with non-Muslims.

"They did not follow the Jewish or Christian terrorism to slaughter and deport Muslims from Spain and Palestine. It was the sword of Christian crusaders, which wiped out the native population of America."

**It was those who claimed to be Protestant Christians who did that in the present US and Canada (Central and South America are a different story) and for the most part, it was disease, which wiped out the Native Americans before the "Christian Crusaders" could even get there. Second of all, if we want to talk about terrorism...Well, it's too obvious; I'm not even going get into the World Trade Center.

Also, another reviewer mentioned "rape camps." That was not Orthodox Christians running them, those were atheist and they were not nearly as prevalent as claimed. Also, check back in history, the Turkish Muslims rulers and hierarchy in the area filled their harems with pretty Christian girls to satisfy their lust. Now that is a rape camp.

My neighbor came to me a few days ago with a book that someone had lent him in order to learn more about Islam. He asked me to look at it and give him an opinion before he took the time to read it.

I looked at the book and at the author's name and inwardly groaned; the title was bad enough but the author's name implied he is a Serb. Quietly chastising myself for pre-judging the author I began reading it.

It was not as bad as I thought, it was worse.

Trifkovic began by outlining how Islam was baseless and how the Prophet Mohammed was a lying, mean, nasty, cruel and murderous piece of work. Not satisfied with that he continued with citations that were either deceptive because they were incomplete or, mistranslated. He even went as far as to cite "history" that was clearly false or where he selectively recalled events and forgot others.

He liberally quoted from early 20th Century writers who are known to be patronizing and biased against Islam. Even the modern authors he chose were obviously bigots and known to twisting Islam to conform to their own biases against Islam as they try to place a fig leaf of acceptance on their hate towards Islam.

Judith Miller, now proven to be a creative writer when facts do not suit her fancies (New York Times).
Daniel Pipes, who in his writings, classes Muslims as "Moderate Islam" (acceptable) and "Militant Islam" (to be destroyed before they destroy "us"). Then he proceeds to class "80% of all mosques in the US" as "Militant Islam" and defines "Moderate Islam" as people who essentially walk away from their faith.
Father Richard John Neuhouse, a Catholic Priest who is the editor of "First Things". He has never to my knowledge, failed to describe Islam in the most hate-filled terms.

He pretends to quote the Quran's description of Heaven in the most base, sexual terms. However, he appears to not be satisfied with even that so he "infers" a promise of homosexuality in Heaven.

Trifkovic's description of Jihad is not only wrong but vile as well...by this time vileness was no longer a surprise as I forced myself to continue reading this book.

His analogies of Islam to Nazism are clear and frequent and his interpretations of events are self-serving as is his recollection of "history". When describing Bosnia he tries to explain why it was not really a genocide and how murderous the Muslims are because some Bosnians slaughtered about 29 Serbs. If that were a yardstick, where does that leave the Christian Orthodox Serbs and the Catholic Croats who slaughtered tens of thousands of Muslims and maintained rape camps of Muslim females aged from about 10 years to about 70? Conveniently, Trifkovic forgets those details.

After a full book in which Trifkovic vilifies Muslims for their lack of democracy (among many other things), he closes the book by stating that if Muslims were allowed democracy in nations such as Turkey, it would only result in an Islamic government and THAT would be unacceptable! It would appear that Muslims have nowhere to go except down the silent lines towards self-annihilation.

Obviously Trifkovic is trying to finish the job on Muslims that the Serbs could not accomplish in Bosnia. He is in lots of company and it is a growing club, thanks to King George and his henchmen. This book promises to warm the heart of every bigot or your money back.

Which is worse; ignorance, poor methodology, or blind hatred? Trifkovic has excess of each. But let's provide examples of both his "method" (poor historian at best) and specific points that he makes. So much is merely asserted without real evidence that it would take a long book to document and correct all his errors.

Totally anachronistic, he often uses idealized standards of present times - not even practiced today - as a yard stick for Muslim failures. This is combined with totally misleading or falsified information. One example of both is the criticism of the Prophet Muhammad as taking 20% of revenues and booty. This ignores overwhelming evidence and reports of the very modest life style and lack of materialism and greed of the Prophet and also equates what the `state' took as taken by Muhammad when the public funds were used for public benefit. As far as anachronism is concerned - it would have been typical to have used funds for palaces and excesses rather like Saddam or dynasties through the ages.

The slander about Aisha, the child bride, reappears when it has long been known that this type of marriage was common and not consummated until a girl reached physical maturity. Why would this be raised except for slander and attempts to slur what is not understood and hated?

To comment about righteous violence condoned by the Qu'ran shows again both selective use of material neglecting even the immediate surrounding texts that provide conditions (defensive primarily) and limitations (protection for non combatants, protection of environment, protection for dhimmis who have surrendered or been defeated. It also totally neglects a realistic standard of comparison like Deuteronomy or Exodus that condone great violence without comparable limitations.

Sometimes facts are also blatantly wrong. Charity was provided for dhimmis as well as Muslims, and sometimes for other travelers and orphans in particular - not exclusively for Muslims although they were favored objects of charity - as in Christian and Jewish societies that felt "charity begins at home".

Self righteous critiques of Qur'anic comments on slavery provide a good example of Trifkovic's failures as an historian. He is anachronistic and he misuses written sources. The 32 mentions of slavery in that book all accept but overwhelmingly encourage humanizing slavery. Freeing slaves gains merit. Owners can be punished for mistreatment. Children of slaves and owners were to be freed (contra Jefferson). This was far ahead of Christian texts and policy until well into the 19th century after thinkers like Hume, forces like the industrial revolution, and Christian idealists became a force for abolition. This is not, of course the full story about practice over the ages, but it is far "truer" to the realities that the author claims to be Muslim doctrine.

The book is full of exaggerations, lies, false emotional comparisons. He claims massacres in India worse that the Holocaust. Islam in India (despite extremist Hindu nationalist stories recently) is not all about "massacres". War, death, destruction were much a part of conquest but war often included Hindu allies; Hindus were usually treated as de facto dhimmis after conquest. And there was not state program of genocide. (And what good would conquest and rule be is all economic production was destroyed by genocide?)

Tolerance in Islam has not been practiced up to the standards of its ideals but both the ideals and the practice were generally better than the Christian treatment of either Jews or Muslims (or Catholics of protestants and vice versa) until at least the 17th century. There are still minority communities continuing in the Muslim world - unlike Spain. These have even survived western colonial; rule when the Christians could be felt to be, and sometimes were, traitorous fifth columns. The dhimmis, especially for their times I history, had legal and even economic status far better than the obverse situation and there were very few pogroms. Why does one suppose so many Jews left Spain for the Ottoman Empire and North Africa. Toleration was not ideal, but it was no myth as claimed.

The book is full of assertions few of which withstand honest criticism. It is hateful and indicative of the times (and intellectual standards) that conservative book clubs would support trash with such intellectually vacant notions of "multiculturalism" and "political correctness" as the basis for claiming that this book should be seen as daring expose of truth. Ignorance and hate thrive. Anyone with a decent education, whatever their faith, should be embarrassed by such trash.

this book is so scary, especially since the growing threat of militant islam is dangerous to democracy.

read this book, please!

I can't overemphasize how important this book it.

Most people in the USA are so pro-Palestinian that they are oblivious to the dangers of Islam.

What they don't realize, is that after they are done with Israel, the militant Muslims will come after the infidels of the USA.

The biggest secret is that Islam hates the USA.

Read this book and see why.

As far as books on Islam go, "The Sword of the Prophet" is pretty good. Most of its detractors never really contest Srdja Trifkovic's historical assertions directly, instead, they rant about how "wrong" and "prejudiced" he is. The facts, however, are the facts. You can draw different conclusions from them, but the military aspects of Islam recorded in the book are historical fact.

The one problem I have with Srdja Trifkovic's book is his bias in favor of the Eastern Orthodox. Srdja Trifkovic suggests that the Eastern Orthodox, with their traces of Platonian mysticism, would have created a Western Civilization better able to withstand the assaults of Islam. The problem with this suggestion is that history proved just the opposite. The Eastern Orthodox, with their reliance on Platonian philosophy, were largely unable to overcome Islamic philosophers like Averoes and Avicenna. And as a result, most of the countries in North Africa and the Mideast that were formerly Eastern Orthodox became Muslim. The assault on the mind by Averoes and Avicenna, which followed the physical assault by Islamic invaders, was largely a success in Eastern Orthodox occupied countries.

It was the Catholic Scholastic philosophers, led by the invincible Thomas Aquinas, with their reliance on Aristotolian logic, that met the Islamic philosophers in the battlefields of the mind at the University of Paris, and gained the day. This explains historically why Western Europe remained Catholic, and then, Protestant/Catholic, while much of Eastern Europe eventually converted to Islam.

The decline in birth rates in Spain and Italy (the lowest in Europe), along with the overall decline in birth rates throughout Europe, America, and now Latin America, only causes more concern as Western Europe and its former colonies biologically and idealogically reproduce themselves less and less while Islam continues to grow.

Catholics would do well to read this book in conjunction with Hilaire Beloc's works and Etienne Gibson's works.

I must confess that very few things in the world annoy me more than people that lecture others about things they know absolutely nothing about. The opponents of this book are a perfect example. Let me make one thing crystal clear to anyone that hasn't yet read "The Sword of the Prophet": The one-star reviews posted here were written by people that haven't read the book!! This book is not racist and it is not scaremongering!

This book is one of the most intelligent and well-written books I have ever read. It pulls absolutely no punches when it examines the origin, historical record, and future implications of Islam as a global force. Political correctness and other left-wing ideologies are ignored for the sake of truth and critical thinking, which is absolutely refreshing to read in this day and age of "historical ignorance" and "deliberately induced amnesia", as Mr. Trifkovic puts it. The first and second chapters examine the life of Muhammad and the creation of the Koran, which is fascinating and eye-opening. The third chapter, "Jihad Without End", is simply frightening. It chronicles the spread of Islam over the last thousand years, and the massive cultural devastation, human suffering, and loss of innovation that went with it. This chapter, more than any other, is the most savage rebuttal of people that insist that Islam is "tolerant" or a "religion of peace". Never, in its entire history, has Islam even approached anything resembling tolerant or peaceful, and anyone that has bothered to actually read history knows it. The fourth chapter shows Islamic misogyny, use of slavery throughout the centuries (and still in practice today!!), and debunks the ridiculous assertion that there was a "golden age" of Islam. The fifth chapter describes the sad and pathetic attempts of self-loathing intellectuals (many of whom are in powerful and influential postions) in North America and Western Europe that want nothing more than to tear down every Judeo-Christian tradition and belief that their country was built on. The false and twisted belief of these "enlightened" intellectuals is that all cultures and beliefs are equally valid, and to question the merits of this ideology is bigotry. A knowledge of history and a good eye for observation reveal this worldview as the hoax that it is, but these people are both blind and deaf when it comes to annoying little things like "facts". The sixth and final chapter paints the bleak picture of Western Europe and (to a lesser degree) North America as countries that refuse to open their eyes to a culture that is completely at odds with Western ideals of democracy and human rights. A war has been unofficially declared on the West (ie. the "infidels") by millions of radical Muslims, and yet many people don't even want to acknowledge that there is a problem! The immigration floodgates are open and yet no-one seems to care which people have something to offer and which people have hostile intentions!! Isn't this common sense!? For reasons that are impossible for myself (and many others, I'm sure) to understand, some people would rather commit cultural and racial suicide than attempt to address the problems that are staring Western democracies in the face! As you can see, the sixth chapter has some depressing statistics and a gloomy forecast for North America and Western Europe.

To be honest, I really can't recommend this book highly enough. I read a great deal about history and politics and I had a reasonable understanding of Islam, but I found this book concise, accurate, and enlightening. The historical record and future implications of Islam are incredibly relevant to the world we live in now, and you would be doing yourself a favour by reading "The Sword of the Prophet" and doing some serious thinking of your own about just what all this means for yourself, your family, your country, and your future generations.

The problem with this book is that it is so good the only thing the critics can do is start the usual name calling which is always the mark of someone who has lost, or cannot even come up with, an argument. This book pulls no punches, but it matches the topic it covers, which also pulls no punches. The best part of Trifkovic's book is that he distinguishes the shallow arguments of those who condemn supposed intolerance against Islam and puts the truth up for the light of day. His extremely good study of the "evolution" of Mohammed's thinking from a modestly tolerant sheep herder, to a fanatically ruthless dictator is especially good. While most of the defenders of Islamists today cite the earlier teachings of Mohammed, few can defend the man who grew ever more ruthless and obsessed as he collected his 15 wives, including the six-year old whom he finally brought to his bed at age nine. I have never heard a good answer to the question from a Islamist as to why such an enlightened religion, which is always condemning those who find fault with the premise of Islam and declares them to be bigots, cannot allow a church or synagogue to be built in Saudi Arabia. Trifkovic supplies the answer, but it is not one that Islamists want to hear since they don't have one themselves that makes any sense.
What this book does is expose the ugly truth that the West is not in a war against terrorism, it is in a war of ideas, and the ideas we are fighting go to the very core of Islam and its supporters, not its margins. Once you have read this book, go read Lee Harris' "Civilization and its Enemies" to further your education on the extent of the threat to modernity and human society as we know it. There is a reason why the World Trade Center was attacked (twice) and the Pentagon was hit. Not to mention the murders of thousands of others throughout the modern world. Trifkovic debunks the nonsense that it was done because the 19 middle class hijackers were hungry. This is a very disturbing book, but essential reading for anyone who wants to understand today's challenges.

If you want a cartoonish/Soap Opera-like history, with it's ready made villains and it's ready made hero's, then this book would certainly would be for you.

However, if you want something more substantive and objective analysis then I recomed books by Armstrong, Bernard Lewis and Esposito...

(I think it should be pointed out that Mr Trifkovic is well known for his views -which are incredibly right-wing and belligerant- he writes for an online website [which is more far-right then the NeoConservatives in the Bush admin.] and [political position?: You guessed it, ultra conservative] magazine, whose political position is slightly to the of left of Genghis Khan, he's one of those few proponents who think the atrocities of the crusades were insignificant and basing this stance of his on dubious evidence which many have disputed and challenged him on)

I received an advertisemet for this book in a Catholic Book catalogue and then requested a copy from my university library to peruse. As a Catholic who has studied Islam and am in the process of studying Arabic, I know that this book not only contains many errors, but is a fallcious interepretation of much of what Islam stands for. While Trifkovic does bring to light some less than pleasant aspects of Islam, he neglects too much, highlights the wrong aspects of Islam, and as a result has written a book that incites hatred. In the last three years the stereotypes of Muslims and how the Qur'an is read have been heightened and exagerated to a dangerous level. And while the book is disturbing in this way, I think I am even more disturbed to read the reviews on Amazon, especially the one that argues that Trifkovic's is the only book on Islam one need read. The only dissenting opinion was that of a fellow anthropologist. In this time of fear and misunderstanding, what is needed is not a book that perpetuates stereotypes under the guise of scholarship, but understanding that only comes about through dialoge and genuine interest in the other.

Unlike most books that have been "rushed to press", as one Amazon editorial claims of The Sword of the Prophet, this is no lightweight book. An exhaustive account of the history, theology and impact of Islam is presented in a thorough, yet readable form that exposes the contradictions and futility of the Muslim faith. Quoting the Kuran itself for accuracy of representation, The Sword highlights the Kuran's own discrepancies and details the life of a once visionary's descent into a potentially "conscious imposter and open sensualist." Restoring our "historical memory" allows the reader to make an informed descision to reject the Muslim faith by exposing the media agenda-driven, veiled imposter that it is. There is no subjectivity on the author's part. He successfully refrains from emotional manipulations and forces the reader to face "just the facts" by exhaustively revealing the flawed tenets of the faith itself. The fact is that the Bible has remained a consistent document, continually being affirmed through science and archaelogical finds. For instance, it referred to the earth as a sphere and detailed the water cycle in numerous places long before Science confirmed these truths. The Kuran, on the other hand, appears laden with historical inaccuracies, progressive changes in theological ideologies, futile philosophies, and presents a harsh god who advocates the murder of elderly, children, Jews, Christians, and promotes licentious sexuality at the expense of those used at the disposal of the chosen ones of Allah. The unattractiveness of this religion has been concealed from the masses. This review is NOT a derision of Arabic people or a promotion of ethnic discrimination. In fact, the Sword of the Prophet may even serve as an information source for those Muslims unaware of the religion's frightening origins.

I think I enjoy a position of relatively little bias. For example, I too, like Trifkovic notice that the prosecution of Serbs in Balkans is relatively ridiculous, seeing how the 'genocide' has never been documented, and how casulties of war have never been most ROUGHLY estimated (30 000 - 300 000 is great room for error).

Nevertheless, as an anthropologist, I find his interpretation and his understending of religion, frankly, laughable. Religion is not a flexible constitution, but responds to intra/inter circumstances, national politics, geopolitics, etc. Hence, to brand an entire religion with one broad brush is ludicrous. Ask yourself Dr. Trifkovic - why didn't the Muslim world have witch hunts? Who authorized the crusades?

By this, I am not trying to portray Christianity in a more violent light - no, the point is that selective evidence breeds good arguments that have no external validity. And that is the crux of the problem; Trifkovic's solutions to a wrongly percieved problem, and the wrong question, are racist and extranationalist. This kind of protectionalism may have been possible in the 13th century, but what the heck is it doing here?

Overall, not recommended. I am absolutely stunned people are taking this trite seriously.

I'm 52 years old and consider myself well educated. But my ignorance of Islam and the implications of "Mohammadism" were shocking to me. Our educations, ALL of our educations, suffer from a narrow perspective and the pressures of whatever the prevailing political orthodoxy happens to be. This book explodes the cuddly ecumenical world view that is STILL in fashion that all monotheists are but different shades of the same color.

In assessing the nature of Islam William Gladstone put it best: "They [Muslims] were, upon the whole, from the black day when they first entered Europe, the one great anti-human specimen of humanity. Wherever they went, a broad line of blood marked the track behind them, and, as far as their dominion reached, civilization disappeared from view. They represented everywhere government by forces opposed to government by law." And this was said BEFORE the slaughter of 100's of thousands by the Turks in the TWENTIETH century.

The myth of the "moderate" Muslim is a diabolical politically correct canard forged on the anvil of "tolerance". And to the extend that we've accepted this monstrous invention we've allowed ourselves to become denuded and emasculated. That we still allow ANY Muslim to immigrate to this country is a testimony to our failure to understand the problem and a failure of will to solve this crisis.

Make no mistake, Islam is a gutter religion with the capacity to destroy civilization. William Durant in his "The Story of Civilization" succinctly stated, [Islam is] "probably the bloodiest story in history." He called it a "discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precious good, whose delicate complex order and freedom can at any moment be overthrown by barbarians invading from without and multiplying from within." The bitter lesson, Durant concluded, was that "eternal vigilance is the price of civilization. A nation must love peace, but keep its powder dry."

Indeed, man's grasp on civilization is tenuous. It takes but one generation to separate men from their past. And men cut adrift from the certitudes and accumulated wisdom of the generations that have gone before are highly susceptible to the centrifugal forces of chaos. This elaborate edifice that we can the modern world could easily fold in the face of a committed enemy particularly in light of the fact that by nearly all measurements the West has lost its will.

It would be impossible for this or any book to suffer from overstatement insofar as the pernicious designs of Islam are concerned.

I can't say that this is the truth about Islam (does anyone really know what that is?). But I will tell you this: this book succinctly and bluntly lays out the argument of the extremes of the worst that followers of Islam can perpetrate in the world.

There are two threads in Islam. There are those who espouse a tolerant, peaceful religion interested in social justice. The other thread is much more common -- in the modern era so obviously seen in bin Laden and company.

This book lays out the very worst of Islamic history. He digs into the Quran and Hadith literature (the traditions of Muhammad's sayings) and extracts the worst of the worst. Muhammad is portrayed as a violent, power hungry, sex fiend who uses the revelations of Allah to justify his every whim and fancy. Considering that Muhammad is looked to as the perfect man within Islamic tradition it is no wonder that such a view could lead his followers to do the same. And, sadly, there are far too many who actually do believe what is described in this book.

From a Western point of view, this is seen as a negative. However, if these views are held and seen as perfection, it is religiously justifiable to do the actions -- violence, mistreatment of women, intolerance -- with no doubts. This is the danger about Islam (and any faith, really, though quite obviously Islam is seen as an extreme in this regard).

I can not help but think, however, that this book takes verses out of context, filters them through a preconceived conclusion and does little to explain Islam's hold over its followers, especially over its women.

Are all the women really nothing but slaves? Do its followers really follow it out of fear of being killed for apostasy? Are most Muslims merely so because of where they are born? Is it on the rise due merely to reproduction? Maybe so, sadly.

There is a part of me that does not want this to be true. I have found much beauty and power within Islam. But I do this through a Western filter so sometimes it is easy to gloss over those things we don't like. This is a justified critique that is laid out in the book. Many within academia and even high level government do not wish to upset the apple cart and, behind their ivory towers, will speak of Islamic ideals and principles laying out the claim that what we see displayed by militants such as bin Laden is not the 'true' Islam. But this judgment is rendered by Westernized, non-Muslims.

So what is the truth? It is still playing out.

This book, however, follows the one thread to its logical conclusion and does so with dangerous precision. Five stars for its logic, three stars for its lack of balance. Four stars because it should be read, and dealt with, both by non-Muslims and, more importantly, Muslims. Militating against it rather than engaging in discourse only justifies the conclusion of this book.

For those who think this is a great book by an informed author:

KINDLY DOUBLE-CHECK YOUR SOURCES.

Dr. Srjda Trifkovic does have Ph.D. in History. He, however, was also a lead advisor to one Ms. Plovcic, the only woman ever convicted of genocide in a NATO tribunal. This genocide was against Serbian and Croatian Muslims. Dr. Trifkovic doesn't make a secret of this, indeed, he brags about it in various online resumes.

Muslim reaction to this book has been relatively mild, considering how most Jews would react if an advisor of Himmler had written an "authoritative" book on Judaism and had it published in the United States and widely admired. What's terribly sad is that the Atlantic Weekly thinks this guy is an expert on Islam too, revealing some of the true concerns of this Neocon favorite.

The Wahhabi extremist version of Islam, funded by billions of petrodollars from Saudi Arabia, is THE big threat to the West today - not just to the USA. It is equally a threat for the underfunded moderate Muslims who cannot compete with the dollars oozing forth from the Gulf kingdoms that finance the Wahhabi doctrines in their deadly hatred of the West. A sobering book whose message we must all take very seriously, even if it does over egg the pudding in some areas. Christopher Catherwood, author of CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS AND ISLAMIC RAGE (Zondervan, 2003)

This book examines Islam in more depth than, say, Unveiling Islam by the Caner brothers. The book reveals how Islam is not inherently a religion of "peace and love," both in its origins and its practice by some. It explains how the Quran can be used to justify violent actions against infidels by those determined to do so. Interesting and disturbing. I also like Serge's Orthodox perspective, but he speaks to all Christians.

This is a tricky review to write, mainly because The Sword of the Prophet is a tricky book to read. I have to think about what Serge Trifkovic was trying to accomplish to decide if he has succeeded. No doubt it is intended as a "wake up call" about a looming threat to Western Civilization. The author has presented us with the basic founding of Islam, and some not so well publicized aspects of the life and times of Muhammad, including numerous accounts of the killings done at his instigation or orders. Clearly right from the start Islam was intended as a violently expansionist religion, with the word "religion" being defined by the Muslims as somewhat more than we are used to. Likewise, some glossed over teachings of the Koran and the Hadiths (which are equally important to understand true Islam) are presented. It is a fact (not mentioned here) that the Koran's verses are listed from shortest to longest, so an unfamiliar reader might think that its messages of tolerance and aggression are balanced - somehow jumbled together. But scholars (Islamic ones even) have an idea of the correct chronological order, and Trifkovic has pointed out that as Muhammad gained power, and after the civilizing influence of his then deceased first wife ended, the pronouncements grow increasingly self-serving, aggressive, and intolerant.

We learn of Islamic history, paying some attention to massacres, expulsions, harsh laws for unbelievers (and believers too, for that matter) and so forth. This is not intended as a history book, so don't expect great detail. Trifkovic has pointed out what he wishes to, although he has pointed out those times and places where by any measurable standard the Islamic world was ahead of the West.

Much of the latter portion deals with the West's contemporary reaction to Islam and Trifkovic's condemnation of the endless appeasing and defense of Islam as just another religion. He is particularly distressed by, among other things, the notion held by many that all paths of religion lead to God, so any religion is better than none. He doesn't even flinch from criticizing Bush jr. on this account. Accounts are given of modern day Islam in many countries. Though his harsh attitude to the Balkan Muslims is a bit hard to swallow, given that they're about the only ones not screaming at America right now, Trifkovic presents a fairly strong case in most things.

So what makes this so tricky? Frankly, I don't think this book will convince many people who aren't already leaning in his direction. I don't object to a tone of righteous offence against the Islamic threat, but the tone is overpowering, and almost certain to turn away a great many readers. Even the front, with the large yellow stripe at the top advertising the political incorrectness of the book, is a distraction, marring an otherwise aesthetically well-designed cover. There are also practical difficulties that anyone determined to resist his argument will certainly notice. Trifkovic presents many facts - some are footnoted. More need to be, especially the unfamiliar ones. Another reviewer pointed out that Trifkovic presents his speculations about people's states of mind as facts. I agree.

It seems to be almost obligatory that authors of a polemic of this sort need to rant against liberals, and Trifkovic has not failed. He's entitled to his opinion, but he might consider that there are liberals who consider Islam to be truly and frighteningly conservative. He might attract more readers if he didn't insult so many of them. Liberalism has its difficulties concerning Islam, but they are not as he seems to think. Related is the frequent comparison of Islam to Christianity. I suppose this can sometimes be useful to refute those who might try to equate the two morally, but I found it trite and tiresome.

Another point: even Islam has had its high points in history. Obviously a modest sized book has to economize, and a polemic tract need not praise its adversary. But the tone here is so overwhelming that a reader might think Trifkovic (perhaps correctly, I don't know) is overly fixated on resting every world difficulty squarely on Islam. Here, this is largely a problem with style, but there is that problem.

I expected Trifkovic's book to be even better than Spencer's Islam Unveiled, which in many ways is a twin to this one. Alas, these problems prevented that from being the case, and that is unfortunate. Though I have to snicker at Trifkovic's statement that Islam was the unofficial religion of the