Sword and Scimitar: 14 Centuries of Conflict Between Islam and the West, by Raymond Ibrahim, Hardcover pp 481 $20.42  Kindle $16.99, ISBNs 978-0-306-82555-2,  (DeCapo Press NYC 2018). In the book Sword and Scimitar Raymond Ibrahim, an Egyptian Christian, tells the story of the millennium-plus of conflict between Islam and Western (Christian) Nations, structured on 8 landmark battles.  The first, Yarmuk in 636 AD, was a devastating defeat for the West, and the last in 1683 at Vienna, a defeat for the attacking Islamist army of the Ottoman Empire. Ibrahim uses contemporaneous sources that provide insight into the cultural and religious mindsets of the opposing parties, essential for understanding the nature of the conflict that was, at that time and since, so long and horrific.  The 8 battles of import are dealt with in the book are, with the Islamic armies arrayed against Western Opponents (in parens), are Yarmuk (Bysantine) 636, Constantinople (Bysantine)...(Read Full Article)