I’ve had little time for recreational reading lately, but I keep picking up my copy of The Legacy of Jihad edited by Andrew G. Bostom. I get sooooo many books in the mail about the threat of Islam — some quite good — but many repeat the same things over and over again. This seems to add something new to the conversation. There are a lot of primary sources as well as anthologies of scholarly writing. And it’s all about the relatively narrow but deep subject of Jihad. Most histories blithely assert “Islam expanded” in this or that century. This draws from the historical documents of the time(s) and shows how they expanded — i.e. through bloody war, slavery etc — and how the doctrines of Jihad developed over time. Not worth getting if you’re not interested in this sort of thing, perhaps indispensable if you are. Good gift for Dads who like to hold paper on ancient historical beefs. My Dad would’ve loved it.