Jihad in Islamic History: Doctrines and Practice »

Michael Bonner is Professor of Medieval Islamic History at the University of Michigan. "Jihad in Islamic History" originally appeared in French as "Le Jihad: origines, interpretations, combats". Bonner is also the author of "Aristocratic Violence and Holy War: Studies in the Jihad and the Arab-Byzantine Frontier" and "Arab-Byzantine Relations in Early Islamic Times".

"Michael Bonner's book is by far the best treatment of this important subject in English, and very useful to general historians of the Middle East."--Roy P. Mottahedeh, Harvard University

"This is an excellent and erudite contribution to the field that, due to Bonner's pleasant and clear style, is easily accessible to students and nonspecialists. The book's value lies in its contextualizing of the notion of jihad. It covers the entire Islamic era, tracing how the notion of jihad emerged and developed within a certain historical framework."--Rudolph Peters, University of Amsterdam, author of Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam: A Reader

"A fine contribution to the literature on jihad."--John Kelsay, Florida State University, author of Islam and War

"Jihad in Islamic History is a very helpful overview of the various appropriations of jihad and concepts of warfare and fighting in Islamic history, especially the early period. It is particularly good on the sources, their varying purposes, and the debates today over their validity in trying to explain the rise of Islam and early Islamic history in general. As the only major overview of jihad focusing on the premodern period, the study will stand alone."--Paul Heck, Georgetown University, author of The Construction of Knowledge in Islamic Civilization

Christopher Anzalone - Religious Studies Review

Bonner . . . provides a cogent yet detailed historical survey of the concept and practice of jihad in Muslim societies. His book is a much-needed counter to the poorly researched or downright biased and alarmist cluster of publications that were quickly written and released after September 11, 2001. . . . The book is easily accessible to the nonspecialist, and is ideal for use in an upper-level undergraduate topics course in Middle Eastern and Islamic history or Islamic religious thought. Bonner's work is also a useful primer for specialists which does not sacrifice quality for brevity.