Concise Encyclopedia of Islam

Rating:
Summary: Good for scholars, but not good for the lay reader
Review: This is an abridged version of the massive (12+ volume, $6200) encyclopedia published by Brill Academic Publishers that I used in graduate school. It's great if you're writing a paper to publish. But it's hard to read (tiny print) and very dense and academic, so if you're new to Islam, don't buy this. Also, it's not very complete. Try instead "The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World" or "Islam: the Straight Path" as introductions to Islam.