After The Prophet :The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split - LesleyHazleton

This book is a excellent starting point to know about the context of today's middle east conflict. The book is divided into three parts
1. Muhammad
2.Ali
3.Hussein

The book starts with the death of Prophet Muhammad . This how the author describes the scenes at the room :

"A sickroom in the Middle East then, as now, was a gathering place. Relatives, companions, aides, supporters—all those who scrambled to claim closeness to the center of the newly powerful religion—came in a continual stream, day and night, with their concerns, their advice, their questions. Muhammad fought for consciousness. However sick, he could not ignore them; too much depended on him"

This part of the book tells short story of  Muhammad and the birth of Islam. Special focus is on the events during Prophet Muhammad's  last days. The author brings the main characters alive one by one , starting from Aisha, Ali,Fatima and others.

“Assassination creates an instant hero of its target. Any past sins are not just forgiven but utterly forgotten.” 

The events in Islam history  like  "Affair of the Necklace" , "The People of the Cloak", "The Episode of Pen and Paper" , "The Battle of the Camel", "The Secret Letter", "The Night of Shrieking"  were told beautifully.

The author transport the reader to that period itself, vivid imagery and language. I definitely felt that i was in the middle of all the events detailed in this book. Kudos to the author for writing the complex story in a concise way. The book is referenced thoroughly, excellent research by the author. The author referenced al-Tabari  , a sunni scholar heavily.According to the author after all the rifts among the Muslims what unites them is much more than what divides them.

I don't know how a Muslim reader will react to the simplification of the events but as a fresher in this subject, this book is definitely readable and understandable. Having said that, the author took some liberty in analysing some events with her psychological mindset (The author has two degrees in Psychology ) and sometimes its too much.

A good book to start.