The acclaimed author of Rubicon and other superb works of popular history now produces a thrillingly panoramic (and incredibly timely) account of the rise of Islam.
 

No less significant than the collapse of the Roman Republic or the Persian invasion of Greece, the evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narratives of ancient history, a story dazzlingly rich in drama, character, and achievement.  Just like the Romans, the Arabs came from nowhere to carve out a stupefyingly vast dominion—except that they achieved their conquests not over the course of centuries as the Romans did but in a matter of decades. Just like the Greeks during the Persian wars, they overcame seemingly insuperable odds to emerge triumphant against the greatest empire of the day—not by standing on the defensive, however, but by hurling themselves against all who lay in their path

Rubicon》和其他优秀通俗历史作品的作者现在对伊斯兰教的兴起进行了激动人心的全景式（而且非常及时）描述。

与罗马共和国的崩溃或波斯人对希腊的入侵一样，阿拉伯帝国的演变是古代历史的最高叙事之一，这个故事在戏剧性、性格和成就方面的丰富程度令人目眩。 就像罗马人一样，阿拉伯人不知从何而来，开辟了一个令人目瞪口呆的庞大统治区--只不过他们不是像罗马人那样经过几个世纪的时间就实现了征服，而是在短短几十年内就实现了。就像希腊人在波斯战争中一样，他们克服了看似不可逾越的困难，战胜了当时最伟大的帝国--不过，他们不是通过防守，而是通过对所有挡在他们面前的人进行投掷。