A review by poxav
In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire by Tom Holland

4.0

An intriguing exploration into the chaos of government and beliefs characteristic of late antiquity, the same chaos that sets the stage for the rise of Islam. At the start it read more like a 3/5 if I’m being honest, but by the end I can understand why the author presented all the information in such a way, and I ended up appreciating it. Fundamentally, this book is more about the setting rather than ideas, but it fulfills its intended purpose with clarity and style.