Paul Fregosi (–2001)

Paul Fregosi is a French historian; the only previous work I found was one on the Napoleonic era. Jihad is a military/political history of the Muslim (first Arab, then Ottoman, then terrorist) warfare with Europe. The general tone is a little off-putting, and that may have to do with the publisher. Prometheus Books specializes in what you might call “humanist” works, often critical of religion (whether that’s conventional religion or New Age). Thus Jihad spends roughly equal time reciting atrocities by Muslims, then saying “… but of course Christians did the same thing”. This gets a little old after a while – not that it isn’t true.


One of Fregosi’s arguments is that the historical Jihad rapidly ceased to be a religious movement and became an economic one – it was profitable to take slaves. This is plausible, but undocumented – although I expect detailed documentation would be very hard to come by. In a weird way, I’m reminded of the Third Reich, where a substantial part of the war economy came from looting conquered territory. The Arab and Ottoman economies seemed to have the same problem; once there were no more easy conquests things rapidly stagnated; the Arab world in 1000 AD and the Ottoman world in 1500 AD were in advance of their European contemporaries, but the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution never turned up.


Another of Fregosi’s hobbyhorses is the influence of the Muslim doctrines of Paradise on warrior fighting spirit – the attraction of 72 perpetual virgins as the immediate reward of martyrs. (A Muslim who just died normally didn’t get to Paradise until the Last Judgment). The houris waiting for the soldier are frequently brought up as an explanation for Muslim bravery in battle; this sometimes seems to descend into mockery, for example, when Fregosi claims there was a religious debate over whether orgasms in Paradise lasted for 1000 years or merely 25.


When Fregosi isn’t presenting dueling atrocities or expressing skepticism on the staying power of houris, the history is pretty straightforward. I found the presentations of the conquest (and reconquest) of Iberia and the long fight in the Balkans useful, since I didn’t know much about either of those campaigns (when something goes on for 700 years, do you still call it a “campaign”?) Even here, though, Fregosi is a little suspect; a lot of his quotations are for authors in the 19th or early 20th centuries – for example, all the maps in the book date from a work published in 1922. I don’t necessarily think the referenced authors were wrong, but Fregosi seems to have chosen them so he could quote colorful language on the various iniquities inflicted on suffering Christian civilians by conquering Arabs or Turks.


No pictures; as mentioned, the maps are strangely dated. The reference list is extensive but a lot of the works cited are old. There are no footnotes or endnotes; instead Fregosi usually cites an author or book directly. Best characterized as “slightly useful”, I think.… (mais)