3 stars (Thorough and confusing) - I am not sure why I didn't like this book. It just seemed to have so many names about who did what that I couldn't keep all the information straight. It's like reading a novel with way too many characters. I haven't retained much of the information in the book, and am still a little confused about the difference between Sunnis and Shiites. He did make Sufism quite clear though. I think I will have to do more reading on the subject to make the facts stick. 3 stars (Almost a great book) - While this was often an engrossing read, I left reading it feeling slightly dissapointed. While I will echo other reviewers in stating that the author is a very gifted writer, his skills in history, political science, and anthropology are weaker. Weaknesses: His history loses it's chronological thread rather often. Given the convoluted history of the subject, this is perhaps understandable, but far too often he resorts to "as we shall see in the next chapter", which strikes me as the mistake of an immature historian - particularly as the thread often doesn't get taken up into well into the aforesaid chapter! His final thesis, that Islamic democracy is both necessary and inevitable, given the teachings of the Prophet, is weakly presented, especially as he notes how difficult it is to counter fundamentalisms of any religon. Finally, I think perhaps the scope of the book is over-broad. I found myself hoping that the author will re-write this book in 15-20 years, as the Oxford Dons of old would do with their signature works, in light of what I have no doubt will be his advancing skills and scholarship. The best of this book is very, very good indeed. It's especially strong at putting the Prophet and his ministry in a historical and social context. It is similarly strong on the process of exegesis that lead to Hadith and Sharia that run counter to his teachings. And his contention that the upheaval we are witnessing in the Islamic world is analgous t... Random House :: Religion & Islam :: Religion - World Religions :: Religion :: Islam - General :: Islam :: History :: Essence :: genius :: nature :: Reza Aslan :: :: No god but God - The Origins- Evolution- and Future of Islam
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