The shade of swords

the long version

"The Shade of Swords is the very first cohesive history of jihad, written by one of India's leading journalists and writers. In this new paperback edition, updated to show how and why Saddam Hussein repositioned himself as a jihadi against America, M.J. Akbar explains the struggle between Islam and Christianity. Placing recent events in a historical context, he tackles the tricky questions of what now for jihad following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime."--Jacket.