Sword and Scimitar

Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West

A sweeping history of the often-violent conflict between Islam and the West, shedding a revealing light on current hostilities

The West and Islam - the sword and scimitar - have clashed since the 17th century, when, according to Muslim tradition, the Roman emperor rejected Prophet Muhammad's order to abandon Christianity and convert to Islam, unleashing a centuries-long jihad on Christendom.

Sword and Scimitar chronicles the decisive battles that arose from this ages-old Islamic jihad, beginning with the first major Islamic attack on Christian land in 636 through the Muslim occupation of nearly three quarters of Christendom which prompted the Crusades, followed by renewed Muslim conquests by Turks and Tatars to the European colonization of the Muslim world in the 1800s, when Islam largely went on the retreat - until its reemergence in recent times. Using original sources in Arabic and Greek, preeminent historian Raymond Ibrahim describes each battle in vivid detail and explains how these wars and the larger historical currents of the age reflect the cultural fault lines between Islam and the West.

The majority of these landmark battles - including the battles of Yarmuk, Tours, Manzikert, the sieges at Constantinople and Vienna, and the crusades in Syria and Spain - are now forgotten or considered inconsequential. Yet today, as the West faces a resurgence of this enduring Islamic jihad, Sword and Scimitar provides the needed historical context to understand the current relationship between the West and the Islamic world - and why the Islamic State is merely the latest chapter of an old history.

©2018 Raymond Ibrahim (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Educational!

The subtitle, Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, summarizes Raymond Ibrahim's book perfectly. SWORD AND SCIMITAR is an outstanding historical work. John McLain's narration is pitch perfect. Very, very highly recommended!!

Sword and Scimitar

Great historical account of the religious wars between Christendom and Islam. I learned alot. It's shocking and bloody, abit depressing but necessary knowledge in order to put today's events into perspective. Very good, clear performance

Fine review of Islam

We in the modern west have not understood Islam. This fine history makes clear horror it is to all who are not on its inside. From a Christian perspective it is a horror to those inside as well.

A thousand years of warfare

I remember studying in elementary and middle schools the conquest by Islam; and I remember my Father's generation, in my native Italy, still saying "Mamma li turchi!" (Mom, the Turks!) to signal consternation about a looming catastrophe. Yet in modern narrative it seems as if the Crusades came out of nothing, and everything is reduced to colonialism.

Raymond Ibrahim's book is a much needed corrective, which puts everything in context by using the correct timeline, right from the Islamic conquest of 2/3 of Christendom after 632. Very interesting and well written, performance a little bit dry but still good.

The first chapter about Islamic views of holy war is in itself revealing, informative, and worth the whole book.

I was under the impression it would be just a description of 8 major battles, but it is actually the story of a millenium + of war, punctuated by the 8 battles. Kudos to the author for weaving this all together, with richness of sources and references.
It also narrates America's first experiences with Islam, that is with the pirates of the Berber Coast, in the late 1700s and early 1800s so interesting!

Not for the faint of heart, as often the Muslim conquest is followed by a litany of horrors, dutifully described by the author.

Highly recommended to anyone interested in history.

Well Sourced

Ibrahim quotes first hand Muslim sources. No one can genuinely accuse him of being biased. Anything he says Islam did is backed up by what Islam claimed it did.