Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction

The Book is so easy to understand and provides a wonderful gateway into the importance and history of Islamic religion and society. By giving historical background, the author clarifies the reasons and meanings behind 20th and 21st century events. There are many maps, photos, and short excerpts included in the book so readers can easily understand what the author is explaining.

This book is valuable not only for a historical overview of Islamic tradition, but for the insightful last chapter on current Islam and world perception of it. This book is respectful of the religion while being forthright about some of the less pretty parts of its history. The style of the book is very accessible... some scholars may say it is too broad and not deep enough, but it met my needs... I may want to read a multi-volume work in Islam in the future, but not this weekend.

Silverstein's monograph is a fairly quick read, and well worth the effort. The history is rather sparse, as the title implies, but it makes a nice companion to something more detailed like Berkey's "The Formation of Islam." Well-written throughout, value comes particularly in the analysis and insight developed in the later chapters and conclusion, though some may find it "controversial." Highly recommended.

Silverstein is a brilliant, clear writer who provides a balanced, informed and well-researched approach to one of the most topical subjects of our times. Excellent book for a semester course on the topic.

This book covers a lot of ground in relatively few pages, but could use a clearer definitions of terms like Shia, Sunni, Caliphate, etc. I found myself repeatedly backtracking to remind myself of specifically who and what was being spoken of, and when they were introduced. I didn't expect a great deal of detail due to brevity, but more concise language would benefit the reader in defining terms.

This was a decent intro to Islamic history from a Western historian's point of view. Most books about Islam that are written by Western scholars tend to be overly critical (in my opinion). Generally I prefer to read an anthropologist's take on Islamic issues if I'm to read a piece written from a non-Muslim, simply because they are less biased. I took a chance with this one, and found it to still be pretty good.

Appreciated what I learned, the quality of the writing, the nature of the analysis. Realize that it is a "short introduction" but felt that I got a very good overview. Excellent read. Thank you.

Before reading this book, i really know nothing about the islamic world.This book greatly help you have an overall understading of the entire islamic world history.If you want to learn something about the islamic world. You should try this book first!

The beginning was spectacular— readers get to know how Prophet Muhammad received enlightenment, how the office of caliphate came into being and what led to the birth of several sects. However somewhere in between—the reader tends to lose track— too many new terms and points for discussion. The book discusses the east vs west argument, but I felt, it leaned a little towards the latter itself while dealing with the issue. The end of the book is as wonderful as the beginning— ongoing political issues are briefly discussed and the book aptly summarises all that it offered in the preceding 232 pages in its ‘conclusion’.

great book and service

Lively, informative and, within the confines of space, written with authority whilst, at times, being almost playful. Everything you want titles in this series to be. Up there with the VSI to Modern China in terms of being a fantastic primer and a really engaging read.

The author has had a very difficult task of consolidating a complex history of Islam. I give it only 4 stars because there is need for editing in presentation: it could be improved in clarification without subtracting the details.Many of the Islamic religious terminology could also have been consolidated in an appendix, or explained in footnotes on subsequent pages, as I suspect that, like most other readers, one cannot recall meanings of unfamiliar concepts that one has not lived with (like a Muslim) most of one’s life.However, I would still recommend reading this text before reading anything else on Islam: it will provide a far more balanced perspective in subsequent readings of the subject.When read properly, with fundamental interest, as well as understanding the terminology, one will find that it is apolitical: the conclusion at the end of the book has surprising explanations that will show this to be the case. This ending made the whole book worthwhile reading. One would have to read the book from the beginning though, because the ending is not a summary.

Good for studying