Four years ago in 2003, when Paul Barrett first began planning an ambitious book on Muslims in America, who would have thought that the topic would still be of such urgent interest by the time it was published early this year? But, if anything, intervening events have made Barrett’s exploration of American Muslims more timely and important than ever. With the United States even more deeply embroiled in warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan, with sectarian conflict exploding within the Muslim world, with tensions high among Muslim populations in Europe, and with relations strained between some leaders of the Christian and Islamic religions, readers need as much information as they can get about Islam and its adherents. In his book, Barrett notes that, despite being targets of suspicion in the wake of the attacks of September 11, Muslims in America, as a group, offer a perfect illustration of old-fashioned American assimilation. Overall, they are prosperous, well-educated, politically active, and successful in business and the professions.