John L. Esposito is University Professor, Professor of Religion and International Affairs and of Islamic Studies at Georgetown University. He is the author or editor of more than 45 books, including What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam and The Future of Islam and is Editor in Chief of Oxford Islamic Studies Online.

"Could not come at a more timely moment.... A model of direct, jargon-free prose that takes its readers on a tour d'horizon of the history of Islamic thought about the West, modernity and jihad. Esposito's book will save readers the effort of reading a shelf of books that address the same issues in a less succinct manner."--Peter L. Bergen, Washington Post Book World

"An invaluable book. Erudite, compelling and passionate, Unholy War is essential reading at this crisis of world history, and provides a lucid introduction to truths which must now become common knowledge."--Karen Armstrong, author of Islam: A Short History

"Among the plethora of books published after the cataclysm of 9/11, Unholy War is one of the most insightful and informative in explicating the religious and political roots of the terrorism threat confronting the US."--Choice

"Esposito has condensed the wealth of knowledge of the Islamic world evinced in his Oxford Illustrated History of Islam, producing a book that can admirably serve as an extremely valuable primer in this new world order in which communists have been replaced by terrorists as the planet's resident evil."--Booklist

"A welcome antidote against simplistic attitudes toward Islam.... Those who want a guide to the origins of the current clash of civilizations are unlikely to find a better book."--Publishers Weekly