Sword and Scimitar (Paperback)

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

"With passion, Raymond Ibrahim offers an edgy and eye-opening introduction to a millennium of warfare between the Muslim and Christian worlds before the modern age." ―Thomas Madden, award-winning author of Istanbul, Venice, and Concise History of the Crusades

The West and Islam―the sword and scimitar―have clashed since the mid-seventh 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 territory in 636, through the Muslim occupation of nearly three-quarters of Christendom (prompting the Crusades), followed by renewed Muslim conquests by Turks and Tatars, and 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 encounters―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.

For over twenty years, Raymond Ibrahim has been a leading authority in the study and publication of Islamic history and doctrine. Before being "canceled" for his candor, he made regular appearances on major networks such as CNN, NPR, PBS, C-SPAN, and Al-Jazeera, and his work was featured in prominent publications like The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chronicle of Higher Education, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst, and Middle East Quarterly, among others. A former Arabic linguist at the Library of Congress, Ibrahim has also been a guest lecturer at numerous prestigious institutions such as the National Defense Intelligence College and the U.S. Army War College, and has testified before Congress and spoken at various international forums. With over two thousand articles and essays to his name, his other books include Defenders of the West (2022), Sword and Scimitar (2018), Crucified Again, The Al-Qaeda Reader (2007), and The Battle of Yarmuk (2002).