For as much as it seeks to upset recycled tropes about Islam and its place, especially in Western tradition, this book succeeds in reaffirming the far more complex Muslim experience. Drawing on recent research that engages with the claims of Muslim diversity and complexity across centuries of practice, Tolan (emer., Nantes Univ., France) builds on his past contributions to rethink how the Islamic faith developed over the centuries. Rehabilitating much of the disparity work on the theme that corrects the mainstream view, Tolan reinforces the need to understand Islam’s variability and deep insinuation into the cultural and spiritual heritage of the world that predates the rise of the monotheistic faith. As such, the book serves as a perfect, revised narrative to present to students of all levels regarding how dynamic and diverse Muslim practices and the societies they built came to be. As a text, the book is fluid and accessible enough to serve as a primary entry point to help readers remember that the same dynamism that made the Islamic world of the past remains very much relevant to Muslims today.