Muhammad and the Origins of Islam

'Peters writes very well. The scholarship is excellent, and the book fills a gap in the available material. There are several lives of the Prophet, but none that does what this one does. Most are written to prove a particular thesis about the nature of the Prophet's career. This one simply puts down what can be known with any certainty about the career of Muhammad from the point of view of the contemporary secular historian.'- William C. Chittick