Christian Writer slanders Islam

REVIEWER SLAMS BOOK AS 'ANTI-ISLAMIC POLEMIC' - TOP The Lexington Herald Leader, 1/21/06http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/living/religion/13659169.htm'THE LEGACY OF JIHAD: ISLAMIC HOLY WAR AND THE FATE OF NON-MUSLIMS'
Andrew G. Bostom, editor.

Christian writer Andrew Bostom has brought together a variety of classical Islamic sources, eyewitness accounts, and contemporary historical commentaries related to jihad, or "holy war." He tries to bring balance to understandings of Islam by showing that Islam was spread through brutal military force, and brought slavery and marginalization for non-Muslims. But he is as selective in his choice of sources as are those whose viewpoints he opposes. Bostom also fails to provide any sense of historical and cultural context for the religious commentaries or eyewitness accounts. There is no reference to the medieval Christian Crusades, the Turkic and Mongol invasions of Muslim lands, or the subsequent military campaigns that drove Muslims out of Spain and Eastern Europe and eventually brought most of the Islamic world under colonial rule. Understanding the motives and methods of war through history is critical to a meaningful context. The author uses virtually any military offensive carried out by Muslims as an example of jihad, ignoring restrictions classical and modern Islamic jurisprudence placed on it. There is a need for a work that brings realism and balance to the topic. But Bostom's book is no more than a cleverly constructed anti-Islamic polemic that does much to increase fear and little to increase knowledge.