This brief introduction to the life and influence of Muhammad is part of the publisher’s Very Short Introduction series. It’s intended to be an introduction to Muhammad’s life from a Muslim perspective for a non-Muslim audience. The author should have explicitly stated in the book that he is an adherent of Islam. While this could be inferred from his preface, this should be communicated more clearly to readers.

The first chapter comprises about half of the book and it summarizes the Sira, a Muslim biography of Muhammad. Chapter three explains the importance of Muhammad to Muslims throughout history. The second chapter is the weakest in the book. Brown addresses questions of historical reliability and briefly mentions the work of some scholars who have questioned the historicity of various accounts of Muhammad’s life. Readers should keep in mind that Brown writes from a faith perspective when weighing his assessments of the strengths or weaknesses of the critics’ arguments. ( )

In this "Very Short Introduction," author Jonathan A.C. Brown presents in three chapters Muhammad's life as understood by most Muslims, a commentary on historical representations of Muhammad, and the Prophet's influence on Islamic civilization since his death.

My library recently received the Muslim Journeys Bookshelf grant, twenty-five titles of both fiction and nonfiction. I am leading five related book discussions, and wanted to make myself more familiar with the basics of Islam, so I chose this book to give me an introduction. Unfortunately, while I'm a bit more familiar with the religious understanding of Muhammad, I'm ultimately more confused. The second chapter was less a historical explanation than it was a rebuttal of various interpretations. I was really hoping for at least an outline of what history is known, but for the most part Brown will mention an historical view and then proceed to explain why it's not an argument against Muhammad - all well and good, but very hard to follow when I don't know what the known history is to start with. The first chapter was useful information, but I think I'll have to follow up with the bibliography to really get the information I was looking for. ( )