This is a 2003 rewrite of a 1990 book, dealing with Islamic history, theology and culture. Written by non-Muslims with no particular axe, pro- or anti-Islamic, to grind, it would seem to be an ideal introduction for non-Muslims. However it is riddled with errors, dismally proofread, and on occasions the authors just can't put their polemic aside.On the plus side to start with - it has a very useful brief introduction to early Islamic history, and it deals with the different schools of Shari'a jurisprudence in a readable and crisp manner. It also presents a useful, though occasionally inaccurate, section on various sects of Islam. Useful if you're confused as to the difference between the Shi'i and the Sunni.
However, from here the book starts going wrong. Firstly, the proofreading is dreadful. The Arabic name for Morocco, al-Maghrib, apparently means the West or the 'sunrise'. Er, don't know about your planet lads, but on mine the sun rises in the East. The section on the United Arab Emirates tells us there are 6 emirates in the UEA (sic), having listed 7 on the same page.
The gross factual errors are even worse. Istanbul, they tell us, means 'City of Islam'... er, um, no, that would be 'Islaminsehri'. Istanbul is actually a Turkicisation of the Greek 'i stan polis', or in the city. Alawites are apparently confined to Syria and Lebanon... er, that might surprise the 15 million or so Turkish Alevi, who form the largest Alawaite community in the world.
Finally, when they come to the section on Islamic countries, you know who they don't like, and in this case arch-enemies No. 1 and 2 are Turkey and Pakistan. Blinded by their own political convictions, they fail to do justice to the complexities of either country.
Also lacking in that section is any analysis of countries where Muslims are not at least half the population - as a result important and ancient Muslim communities in India and China are ignored, as is the Islamic diaspora in Europe, as are the growing Islamic communities of countries like Kenya and South Africa.
There is some useful information in this book, but in a crowded market you can do much better.