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You want to know about Islam? but you hate reading a "scholarly book"? So, this book is perfect for you. It's laid out as an undergrad textbook, with the sort of logic we westerners expect to see when being introduced to something. The chapters each have an over-view, then break into well-defined sections. If there are four important things about something, Denny gives four section headings. He also reviews information, where needed. The best thing about the text is Denny's strategy of leaving many words in Arabic (after he has explained the terms); that means you won't learn about an idea under a name specific this translator. Sometimes there's a longish space between iterations of a term - 50 pages, for example - but the excellent glossary and the very thorough index make it possible to recover the information easily.
Denny does a great job of explaining what can be a very complex topic. I used this as a textbook for a history course, but it is still very readable for personal enjoyment. It is clear that Denny is very passionate about his work. Although the book is not a chronological history of Islam, the knowledge gained from it is useful when trying to understand that type of study....
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