This book was recommended to me by my wife's uncle Bob. It's a history of Islam, which is a topic I know very little about. I often find myself trying to make sense of some current event of Middle Eastern politics, beginning to do some research, and getting vertigo when I peer into the depths of historical context. So I was grateful for a book recommendation that would allow me to lay greater groundwork.

This book takes a very long view: starting long before the birth of Mohammed, and proceeding slowly. I listened to it on audiobook, and I am glad that I did, because I got to learn the proper pronunciation for lots of words (like "Caliphate, which sounded to me like "hal-ee-fah").

"The West" and "Islam" are sometimes painted as conflicting ideological projects with opposing goals, similar (although usually less intense) than the Cold War pitted the United States against the USSR. One big idea that this book impressed upon me is that much of this misunderstanding stems from the fact that the priorities aren't opposing, but are so vastly different that the frameworks end up talking past each other.

As an example: Whereas the West values personal freedom, Islam values the "holy community" as a virtuous social unit. These ideas aren't inherently at odds with each other, but one will almost certainly stifle the other unless you are working hard to cherish and integrate both.

In learning a bit about Islam, I realized how little I know about world history of any kind, at all! But I enjoyed listening to this book, so I'm looking forward to finding other history books (about other cultures!) to add to my list in 2026.