Muhammad: Prophet for Our Time

Karen Armstrong is an amazing writer. This is a heavily referenced history book, yet is written in such a way that you are just swept along in the story, like reading an epic novel. This is not a religious polemic, it should be approached as a work of historical study, with an open and enquiring mind - it often examines different angles of interpretation and I can imagine this might upset some people. Aside from the excellent writing style the book's greatest strength is putting events in their cultural, economic and historical context. The interaction of the Byzantine and Persian empires, the Jewish colonies in Arabia, the invention of a new saddle for camels and the trade routes from India are all central to understanding this story. Too often historical narratives are told in isolation - the real world doesn't work in sealed boxes, this book tries to tell a critical moment in history and manages to bring that world to life.