by Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong, Islam: A Short History (New York: The Modern Library, 2002). Pp. 230. Paperback $15.95. I was going through used bookstores in Omaha last week and I came across this book. It was a decent price, and I’ve been looking for a book about the history of the Middle East. I want to be be...
It's a good book, though pretty brief in parts. It makes an OK introduction, though, for precisely that reason. A more significant complaint might be that it's not objective. There is a distinctive thread running through Armstrong's work, which is her belief that the "true" form of any religion is...
Armstrong has a lot of knowledge and she tries to stuff too much of it in this short history. Either a broader perspective or a longer book would be better. I would recommend Reza Aslan's "No god but God" over this, or at least read it before reading this.
When I watch our pundits pontificate on affairs in the Middle East, I usually wind up pounding my forehead on the table: Things can't possibly be as simple as all that, and this "short history" of Islam proves that.As usual, Armstrong packs a lot of information into a small package. This is a high a...
A great first book for Westerners on Islam -- but not a great only book on the history and ideologies of the tradition. Readers will get a good grounding for further reading, but those who stop here will have serious gaps in their knowledge of the subject.
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