So Much History, So Little Time

Of the major world religions, Islam may be the most misunderstood. All too often, the most radical fringe is presumed to represent the mainstream. Western journalists devote gallons of ink to the harsh excesses of the Taliban, or the brutal violence of groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. Some see Muslim societies as a monolithic bloc stretching from Morocco to Indonesia. The reality is far more complex: Militant extremists represent only a small portion of Islamic fundamentalism, fundamentalists represent only a small portion of today's Muslims, and today represents only a small portion of Islamic history.

Karen Armstrong seeks to provide some much-needed balance in her book "Islam: A Short History." "Ever since the Crusades," she writes, "the people of Western Christendom developed a stereotypical and distorted image of Islam, which they regarded as the enemy of decent civilization." Her goal is ambitious: to tell the story of how one-fifth of humanity has spent the past 1,400 years--and to do it in 187 pages. But for the author of the best-selling "A History of God," this task might seem one of only modest proportions.

Considering the vastness of the enterprise and the brevity of volume, Armstrong does surprisingly well. But considering the importance of the subject and the skills of the author, one might have hoped for something more.

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