Rating: 
Summary: a scary book
Review: this book is so scary, especially since the growing threat of militant islam is dangerous to democracy.read this book, please!
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Summary: Cuts to the Quick
Review: This is a superb work of scholarship combined with beautiful prose. It is most readable and informative. One can see why some might want to suppress the book or pan it. The portrait of Islam the author presents is in sync with current events. Born in violence and spread by conquest, Islam is not a religion of peace for those outside the Faithful.
Rating: 
Summary: Much Good, But Too Pugnacious to Win Minds
Review: This is a tricky review to write, mainly because The Sword of the Prophet is a tricky book to read. I have to think about what Serge Trifkovic was trying to accomplish to decide if he has succeeded. No doubt it is intended as a "wake up call" about a looming threat to Western Civilization. The author has presented us with the basic founding of Islam, and some not so well publicized aspects of the life and times of Muhammad, including numerous accounts of the killings done at his instigation or orders. Clearly right from the start Islam was intended as a violently expansionist religion, with the word "religion" being defined by the Muslims as somewhat more than we are used to. Likewise, some glossed over teachings of the Koran and the Hadiths (which are equally important to understand true Islam) are presented. It is a fact (not mentioned here) that the Koran's verses are listed from shortest to longest, so an unfamiliar reader might think that its messages of tolerance and aggression are balanced - somehow jumbled together. But scholars (Islamic ones even) have an idea of the correct chronological order, and Trifkovic has pointed out that as Muhammad gained power, and after the civilizing influence of his then deceased first wife ended, the pronouncements grow increasingly self-serving, aggressive, and intolerant. We learn of Islamic history, paying some attention to massacres, expulsions, harsh laws for unbelievers (and believers too, for that matter) and so forth. This is not intended as a history book, so don't expect great detail. Trifkovic has pointed out what he wishes to, although he has pointed out those times and places where by any measurable standard the Islamic world was ahead of the West. Much of the latter portion deals with the West's contemporary reaction to Islam and Trifkovic's condemnation of the endless appeasing and defense of Islam as just another religion. He is particularly distressed by, among other things, the notion held by many that all paths of religion lead to God, so any religion is better than none. He doesn't even flinch from criticizing Bush jr. on this account. Accounts are given of modern day Islam in many countries. Though his harsh attitude to the Balkan Muslims is a bit hard to swallow, given that they're about the only ones not screaming at America right now, Trifkovic presents a fairly strong case in most things. So what makes this so tricky? Frankly, I don't think this book will convince many people who aren't already leaning in his direction. I don't object to a tone of righteous offence against the Islamic threat, but the tone is overpowering, and almost certain to turn away a great many readers. Even the front, with the large yellow stripe at the top advertising the political incorrectness of the book, is a distraction, marring an otherwise aesthetically well-designed cover. There are also practical difficulties that anyone determined to resist his argument will certainly notice. Trifkovic presents many facts - some are footnoted. More need to be, especially the unfamiliar ones. Another reviewer pointed out that Trifkovic presents his speculations about people's states of mind as facts. I agree. It seems to be almost obligatory that authors of a polemic of this sort need to rant against liberals, and Trifkovic has not failed. He's entitled to his opinion, but he might consider that there are liberals who consider Islam to be truly and frighteningly conservative. He might attract more readers if he didn't insult so many of them. Liberalism has its difficulties concerning Islam, but they are not as he seems to think. Related is the frequent comparison of Islam to Christianity. I suppose this can sometimes be useful to refute those who might try to equate the two morally, but I found it trite and tiresome. Another point: even Islam has had its high points in history. Obviously a modest sized book has to economize, and a polemic tract need not praise its adversary. But the tone here is so overwhelming that a reader might think Trifkovic (perhaps correctly, I don't know) is overly fixated on resting every world difficulty squarely on Islam. Here, this is largely a problem with style, but there is that problem. I expected Trifkovic's book to be even better than Spencer's Islam Unveiled, which in many ways is a twin to this one. Alas, these problems prevented that from being the case, and that is unfortunate. Though I have to snicker at Trifkovic's statement that Islam was the unofficial religion of the Nazi SS (come on, this is really grasping), and though he never did explain exactly what the Balkan Muslims did wrong before recent years (unlike every other group), I was hard pressed to find any actual errors. Much of what he wrote I've heard before, and not only from sources hostile to Islam. The comment that Muhammad's favorite wife was so young she kept dolls springs to mind. So what's outrageous need not be false. Even in his grudging mention of Islamic medieval science, the subject I personally knew the most about prior to my investigation of Islam, I found no inaccuracies. So my final verdict is that a fine and useful book, one bold enough to outright state the author's dislike and distrust of Islam, is marred by its probable limitation, namely that if you aren't already singing in this choir, Trifkovic's preaching will likely fail. I'd say seventy or eighty percent of Sword of the Prophet is useful. It's a shame about the rest.
Rating: 
Summary: PURE B.S.
Review: This Srdja guy....the aurthor....has a B.S...in B.S...
stay away from this piece of mindless and racist rant...
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Summary: The ONE book to read about Islam.
Review: Unlike most books that have been "rushed to press", as one Amazon editorial claims of The Sword of the Prophet, this is no lightweight book. An exhaustive account of the history, theology and impact of Islam is presented in a thorough, yet readable form that exposes the contradictions and futility of the Muslim faith. Quoting the Kuran itself for accuracy of representation, The Sword highlights the Kuran's own discrepancies and details the life of a once visionary's descent into a potentially "conscious imposter and open sensualist." Restoring our "historical memory" allows the reader to make an informed descision to reject the Muslim faith by exposing the media agenda-driven, veiled imposter that it is. There is no subjectivity on the author's part. He successfully refrains from emotional manipulations and forces the reader to face "just the facts" by exhaustively revealing the flawed tenets of the faith itself. The fact is that the Bible has remained a consistent document, continually being affirmed through science and archaelogical finds. For instance, it referred to the earth as a sphere and detailed the water cycle in numerous places long before Science confirmed these truths. The Kuran, on the other hand, appears laden with historical inaccuracies, progressive changes in theological ideologies, futile philosophies, and presents a harsh god who advocates the murder of elderly, children, Jews, Christians, and promotes licentious sexuality at the expense of those used at the disposal of the chosen ones of Allah. The unattractiveness of this religion has been concealed from the masses. This review is NOT a derision of Arabic people or a promotion of ethnic discrimination. In fact, the Sword of the Prophet may even serve as an information source for those Muslims unaware of the religion's frightening origins.
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