Jihad in the West: Muslim Conquests from the 7th to the 21st Centuries

by Paul Fregosi

"Jihad," the Muslim holy war against Christians and others, has raged for 1,300 years with bloody conquests in Europe dating from campaigns to convert the infidels in the 7th century to today''s random acts of terrorism in the name of Allah. Yet this huge unrecorded "hole" in European history has been censored and stifled by political and literary authorities who have feared reprisals from angry Muslims trying to hide a legacy of brutality vastly more bloody and six times longer in duration than the atrocities of the crusades.This is the engrossing factual account of the immense and little-known Islamic military invasions of Europe, and the major players who led them, beginning around 650 CE. The Islamic Arabs (and later the Moors) occupied a number of the Mediterranean Islands, and invaded Spain and Portugal in 711 CE, and ruled over much of the Iberian peninsula for the next 800 years. France was attacked and invaded, as was Italy, and the European coasts all the way to Ireland and Iceland. The Muslims swept over the Balkans, besieged Vienna, and were intermittent masters of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary into the 19th century, destroying the Byzantines and conquering Constantinople (turning it into Istanbul). Ambitious and unrelenting, the Muslims also sought to conquer Austria and Russia.

Genres: History, Islam, Religion, War, Nonfiction, World History

425 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 1998

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough review of religious based aggression from the Islamic world. Puts the lie to the idea that Christians have been the primary aggressors in the religious warfare between Islam and the West.

[James Rasbeary · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I have read describing the history of Islam and Jihad. Written before 911. Graphic and perhaps not suitable for younger readers.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great read!
As far as I know, this is the only book exposing the Islamic aggression all over Europe; dating back to the 8th century.
It's a must read to any history lover.

[Michael K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS was a phenomenial book on the ideology of JIHAD. The radicalism behind it and how it was the crux of conquering of great swaths of land throughout Asia and Europe. Potentially how it could be used throughout the world, as well. The mantra that Islam is a religion of peace is rather untrue! The basis of Jihad warfare is a direct and radical belief under the Islamic faith, which is also a fundamental basis for politics, law, societal ruling and religious ways and means to an end. It is not the moderate Muslim in your midst you must be wary of but it is, in fact, the radical believer who is a rather vociferous and fundamentalist who has such a basic belief of what the Prophet Muhammad said that it is he whom you must worry about. In the fundamentalist's mind the moderate Muslim is as much a heretic and non-believer as the infidel and will be treated as such. No treaty can hold them back because they will break it in nothing flat if the Mufti rules it to be against the will of Allah. There is the doctine of "al Taquiyya" which permits a Muslim to lie to an unbeliever and a moderate believer in order to gain a better position over or fulfill Allah's will.

On a personal note: My uncle long ago worked at NJIT (New Jersey Institute of Technology) where he was a professor of Metullurgy, at least that was what his PhD was in. I recall him stating back in the 1970's & 1980's where the Middle Eastern students just lied to him all of the time and that they were raised on lies. I never understood such a thing, but learned much later in my life about certain aspects of the Islamic faith, the doctrine of "al Taquiyya." It was only then that I had that Ah-HAH moment and understood what he was saying.

[Eric S · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent overview of the nearly 1400 year struggle between the followers of Islam and Europeans. The author has deliberately restricted the work to that although there is significant information on other areas when it adds to the basic narrative. The book is not a scholarly tome with copious footnotes. It is more a "popular history" type of book though it has a decent index and bibliography. The author has a very good writing style and is often very humorous. I would have rated this book higher but he is somewhat repetitive in spots. Given that this book was written over 20 years ago it is still an excellent read and with few exceptions still very relevant. The author does a very good job of being evenhanded in the discussion of the various massacres and other atrocities. I would definitely recommend this book if you want to understand why Islam is the source of so much of the world's violence. The author does a very good job of describing battles and events without getting into the often boring minute details that turn people off to history. He also brings to life the people that lived through these events. The rest of this review are quotes from this book that give a flavor of the book.

After he quotes "The chronicle of the Cid" the author wonders
"In our age of whimpish men and macho women, when love, friendship and loyalty cannot compete against money, we wonder if we can still find men and women who cherish such sentiments and can express them with such simple dignity."

"The brain and other organs in Marwan's head were removed, his tongue feed to a passing weasel... One does often wonder, however, what all this has to do with religion, with the love of God and man. One is sometimes aghast at the ferocious overtones that religions can sometimes take, and none has done so more than Islam for many centuries, and it is still continuing today," (note he wrote this more than 20 years ago)

When speaking of the Turk Bajazet and the Mongol Timurlane
"The reading of history would be a kinder experience if neither of these two creatures had ever existed."

"You do well to weep like a woman for what you could not defend like a man" Boabdil's mother to him.

After describing the death of Count Nikola IV Zriny (or Zrinski)
"Of course the panache of yesterday ring strange in the modern age whose values are mainly concerned on the pursuit of money. ... People still yearn for what is great and fine and good."

", we are told, 'all put to the sword.' It's a nicely balanced and pretty phrase, all the prettier that it does not convey the abominable and messy slaughter that 'put to the sword' must imply, particularly when hundreds, if not thousands, of people are cold-bloodedly slaughtered."

"But with the example of our own time in mind, let us remain horrified but not too surprised at all the hideous things humans do to one another."

A very good read.

[محمد سعيد · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books ever - Not recommended at all !

The Author _apparently_ doesn't know anything about Islamic history. He made this book only for one reason; bigotry. The man is a hater, he doesn't present facts unbiased; instead he keeps mocking Muslim faith and present erroneously straw-man version of the events. His ad hoc compulsive version is really ridiculous. Muslims didn't do anything like convert or die. There was a third option : Poll tax. The poll tax "Jizya" was taken from able males who didn't want to serve in the military. If they chose to join the military then they were exempted. Women, children, elderly, slaves, and the poor were exempted.

Muslims started fighting The Byzantine Empire after 5 bloody incidents in which Muslims were killed by Byzantines or Ghassanids _Byzantine christian allies_ for no apparent reason other than converting to Islam or preaching the new religion.

I can go on and on and on, but for everyone who is reading the reviews, don't buy this book. There are a lot of specialized academics who wrote on the history of the propagation of Islam. One of the greatest is Sir Thomas Arnold in his masterpiece; The Preaching of Islam. Check it.

[Frode · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a pretty good history of Muslim foreign policy, kill or convert non-Muslims. Most Americans would profit from reading this book since it will fill in lots of blanks.

['Aussie Rick' · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be a very easy to read account of the role of 'Jihad' in European history. I have read about a dozen books on the Crusades from terry Jones 'Crusades' to Steven Runciman's 'The First Crusade' and to tell the truth this has been the first book I have seen that looks at the Muslim version of our 'Crusades'.

The author only offers a brief overview of Jihad in Europe but even that brief history is very interesting. I found at times that the authors sarcasm spoilt my reading, he at times laboured the point. I have no problem with accepting that Muslims were as voilent and blood thirsty as their Christian counter parts. There are many events in history that 'Christians' should be ashamed of as well.

It must also be said that we should not ignore this piece of history just because it may offend people of the Muslim faith. Its a interesting and enjoyable read, and it is something that we should not forget. Overall its a good book and I think most people would enjoy it.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

A throughly readable history of the Jihad in Europe. Fergosi's book is a brave attempt to correct the large politically correct blindspot the west has in their understanding of European and the Middle East history. This book was written before 9/11 terrorist attacks, ISIS or the Taliban retaking Afghanistan. The author certainly would not have believed how prolific the Jihad has become since this books publication. As so often those who are "controversial" are proven right in time.

[Joseph Hazboun · Rating 4 out of 5]

History should be the prime subject in all domains... for students, for leaders and mostly for state governors... within it we find the secret to peace and prosperity... it's books withhold the secret for the atrocities that heartless men are capable of committing
It is a book of "horrors", the horrors that man -blinded by a set of misconceptualized ideologies- can do to his fellow brothers and sisters.
How could a human being being be so cruel and claim to act in the name of God?!
It is a book of the past, but an important one for our present.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great primer to the history of Islam and it's relationship to the Christian West. I will be doing further reading of some of the sources Fregosi cited in his book. Highly recommended for anyone interested in an uncensored account of violent Jihad throughout Islamic history and the justification for it in Islamic texts, most notably the Qur'an and Haddiths. I subtracted a star due to some poor editing. Otherwise, I would have given it 5 stars.

[Jenifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I almost quite reading this book, but I stuck it out and it was very interesting. It was kind of like reading a text book. It was interesting to learn about the history some of the different wars and how they shaped European history.

I am such a nerd!

[Luis Eduardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good introduction to the ideas behind the jihad movement and an excellent account of the West's clash with Islam.