| List of Maps | x |
| Prologue | xi |
| Preface | xiii |
| Introduction | 1 |
| 1. | Muhammad and the Establishment of Islam | 4 |
| The Revelations and Early Years in Mecca | 5 |
| Muhammad's Move to Medina | 9 |
| Reclaiming Mecca | 14 |
| In Praise of Muhammad | 16 |
| Islam, the Religious System | 18 |
| Conclusion | 25 |
| 2. | The Spread of Islam | 26 |
| The Question of War | 29 |
| The Caliphate | 32 |
| Islamic Civilization | 34 |
| The Mediterranean | 36 |
| Invasions: Turks and Mongols | 37 |
| Conclusion | 37 |
| 3. | The First Christian Responses to Islam | 39 |
| Early Criticism of the Islamic Religion | 41 |
| The View from the West | 45 |
| History, Eschatology, and Martyrdom: The Martyrs of Cordoba | 47 |
| 4. | Islam in the Eyes of the Medieval West: A "Deformed Image" | 50 |
| The Case against Muhammad | 52 |
| Islamic Practices | 58 |
| Positive Words on Islam | 59 |
| 5. | The Western Counteroffensive: The Reconquest of Spain and the Crusades to the Holy Land | 61 |
| The Recovery of Spain and Portugal | 62 |
| The Call for Crusade against the Holy Land | 63 |
| Factors behind the Crusades | 64 |
| The Significance of the Sermon | 66 |
| The Nature of Crusade | 67 |
| The Response to the Call | 69 |
| A Calamitous Beginning | 70 |
| The First Crusade | 72 |
| The Second and Third Crusades | 74 |
| Other Crusades | 76 |
| Results of the Crusades | 78 |
| 6. | Translating Islam: Peter the Venerable and the Spanish Connection | 80 |
| 7. | Christian Attempts to Convert Muslims: Peaceful Missions and Conversion by Force | 86 |
| The Mendicant Orders: Franciscans and Dominicans | 88 |
| Conversion by Force of Arms | 93 |
| 8. | Bridges from Christendom to Islam: Examples of Cooperation | 95 |
| The Philosophers and Islam | 95 |
| A Convert from Judaism | 96 |
| Thomas Aquinas | 97 |
| Sicily and Southern Italy: Cooperation and Forced Conversion | 99 |
| 9. | The Renaissance: Thoughts of Rapprochement and Dialogue | 103 |
| John of Segovia | 104 |
| Nicholas of Cusa | 105 |
| The Words of a Pope: Pius II | 109 |
| Theodore Bibliander | 111 |
| Conclusion | 113 |
| 10. | The Turks as a Sign of the End of the Age: Luther and de Susannis | 114 |
| Martin Luther | 114 |
| The Traditional Catholic View: Marquardus de Susannis and the De Iudaeis | 120 |
| 11. | The Sea Explorers and Western Colonialism: Europe Outflanks and Overpowers the Islamic World | 122 |
| Christopher Columbus | 123 |
| The Portuguese Navigators | 124 |
| A Shift in Power | 126 |
| Western Imperialism: The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries | 127 |
| Napoleon and the First Signs of Imperialism | 128 |
| Colonialism and Islam | 129 |
| Results of Western Colonialism | 131 |
| 12. | Modern Views of Islam: From Rejection to Acceptance | 133 |
| The Study of Arabic | 134 |
| Early Writers from the Enlightenment | 134 |
| Theological Views: Positive Elements in Islam | 136 |
| Theological Views: The Negative Side | 137 |
| Romanticism: The Middle East as Exotic | 138 |
| The Academic Study of Islam | 139 |
| Interreligious Dialogue | 141 |
| Is the Qur'an the Word of God? | 144 |
| From the Muslim Side | 145 |
| 13. | Zionism and the Establishment of the State of Israel | 147 |
| The Beginnings of Zionism | 149 |
| British Support for Zionism | 152 |
| British Power Interests and Israel | 154 |
| The Balfour Declaration | 155 |
| Palestinian Arabs | 155 |
| Early Settlers | 159 |
| The Failure of Attempts to Extricate Jews | 159 |
| The Creation of the State of Israel | 161 |
| The Nature of the Conflict | 165 |
| Summary | 166 |
| 14. | An Overview of Islam and the West Today | 167 |
| A Resurgent Islam | 168 |
| Problems between the West and the Islamic World | 175 |
| The West | 178 |
| Other Problem Areas | 179 |
| Islam in the West | 180 |
| Conclusion: The Place of Religion | 181 |
| Suggestions for Further Reading | 183 |
| Index | 185 |
