To the call of jihad the Arabs began their conquest of the world in the seventh century. This was the start of an extraordinary epic which brought vast regions of the Orient, Africa, and Europe under the rule of Islam. Jews and Christians who refused conversion to Islam became dhimmis. The author separates fact from myth in a vast study of their history, illustrated by many authentic and rarely published documents from different periods and regions.

A full knowledge of the jihad-war and its objectives provides an indispensable key to contemporary conflicts in the Muslim world, as well as to the wave of current Islamist extremism. This basic work facilitates the study of their ideological roots, which are still obfuscated today.

Fairleigh Dickinson University Press/Associated University Presses
EMAIL:[email protected]  $19.95 (paper edition only)
ISBN 0-8386-3262-9 (4th reprint ). 444 pages, 34 illustrations