An inquiry into the religious environment of the person Muslims hail as the "Envoy of God" and an attempt to trace his progress along the path from paganism to that distinctive form of monotheism called 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 "This book will become a major point of reference for years to come." -- Said Amir Arjomand