Customer Reviews
Manfesto for war - By: Pipistrel, 15 Jun 2008 
This is a disgusting mish-mash of lies & half-truths aimed at reassuring Westerners that Islam is a barbaric religion. The author agrees with George Bush & Osama Bin Laden that the West is at war with Islam. Past Western excesses are excused as self-defense. Past Islamic excesses are portrayed as typical of the religion. Carefully selected verses from the Koran are served up out of context & interpreted with total disregard for scholarship. A book for the garbage bin.
Oh dear - By: prof. murray, 31 May 2008 This book is far too right wing & ranting. I reallly wanted to be better informed about Islam & thought that this would be a good place to start. I do not consider myself 'politicallly correct'however I do think that I am fair & reasonable. I think that this book & books like it are a worry. I will not be giving it to charity or passing it on to a friend, this is the first book ever that I am going to throw away.
Interesting read! - By: Gary, 04 Apr 2008 
Just a few notes rather than a review:
It's an interesting read with plus points & minus points. Firstly i read this book as a confirmed athiest. I do think Islam is particularly dangerous but i also believe there is a Christian backlash forming that will be just as dangerous & zealous & this book will add fuel to their fire. I was hoping for an even handed write up of Islam but the problem i had with the book were the little info boxes, things like the 'Jesus Vs Muhammad' boxes that cherry picked quotes from the Bible to paint it as a non violent religion when there are equallly violent passages to be found in the Bible. And also anyone who disagreed with the author's viewpoint were labelled 'apologists' or 'PC alllies on the American Left'.
A good read, easy to follow but somewhat unsatisfying.
Deeply flawed and deeply biased. - By: M. Laher, 01 Apr 2008 I have a deep understanding of the crusades, much more than author, Robert Spencer can claim to have. I am currently studying medieval history at an advanced level so have learnt quite a bit about the crusades.
His argument for the crusades being justified is deeply ignorant & seem to appeal to the armchair critic. The crusades were NOT "in line with the times" & certainly not in line with the laws of conduct in battle at the time. This book has got me so angry because Spencer speaks of topics he clearly doesn't understand & I have spent years studying about. It amazes me how many people are blinded by hate & bias & swalllow this rubbish.
I could write a dissertation critiqing the entire book & its contents, but I shalll point out two particularly jarring false claims as this is meant to be short & the crusades are my specialty. I hope by pointing out these flaws you start critiquing the rest of the book as well instead of taking it alll as fact.
Firstly, the claim the crusades were neccessary to protect christian lands. False. The crusades were started due to a plea for help from the orthodox byzantine church to help them against the seljuk turks. The only direct action taken against the turks was the siege of antioch. After that crusader eyes turned to jerusalem which was in the hands of the the Egyptian empire who were not a direct threat to christian land. The seljuks remained neighbours of constantinople & would eventuallly capture it under the name of the ottomans. All the time the seljuk turks remained north of antioch biding their time & helping their egyptian comrades in a common cause. The crusaders attacks on both antioch AND Jerusalem in the first crusade showed greed & stupidity. It made the allliance between the seljuks & the mamluks impenetrable. One of the chief reasons for the crusades failing in my eyes was the fact the crusaders had made bitter enemies of both the seljuks & the mamluks right from the first crusade.
Secondly, the claim that the crusaders were in line with military policy at the time. They murdered, raped & pillaged their way to jerusalem. None of these were policies of muslim armies. I read a previous review that muslims preferred to live under the crusaders than muslim rulers. This is again, in my opinion, untrue. In fact, the jews living in muslim cities pledged to support muslim defenders against the crusaders such was their reputation as occupiers. In fact at one siege(siege of Maarat)the victorious crusaders resorted to cannibalism, feeding upon the dead bodies of enemy soldiers & children. In fact one of their own chroniclers at the event wrote of the scene before him with joy, "In Ma'arra our troops boiled pagan adults in cooking-pots; they impaled children on spits & devoured them grilled." They sacked THE greatest city (constantinople) in christianity above probably even Rome. They destroyed great Greek, Roman & Christian art, slaughtered fellow christians & reduced the city to rubble. Deeply ironic considering that the same city sent out a plea for help against the turks starting the crusades. Little did they know that just over a century later it would be the crusaders who would bring their city to its knees & not the seljuks. A quote I learnt spoken by a byzantine chronicler after the sack of constantinople indicates his wish that it was the seljuks who conquered constantinople as they would have let its people live.
I can come up with many more reasons why Spencers arguments are baseless but this is meant to be a review. So I end it by saying this. If you truly want to learn about Islam you wouldn't make the same mistake I did in picking up this book. I went into the book with caution & neutrality & found myself helped by my slant. After reading this book I can't help feeling that the author recognised a certain formula.
Politicallly incorrect + Islam = $$$$$$$$
That has to be the answer because there was certainly not a lot of educated thought & judgement that went into writing this book.
As far as I'm concerned this belongs in the fiction section!
Now I understand - By: Jma Pinero-rey, 25 Jan 2008 
In this politicallly charged world that we live in, it is hard to find out the truth about or speak out about certain subjects without being branded certain words. This book bravely & intelligently spells out what Islam is alll about & why we should be weary of it. It is non-biased in that it shows & translates the relevant passages & gives you the equivalent christian meaning & the differences are quite major. If you are unsure what Islam is alll about, buy this book.
