Heather Keaney is Associate Professor of History at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. She teaches, researches and writes on various religio-political debates in the medieval and modern Middle East. She is the author of Medieval Islamic Historiography.
'Keaney's book offers as balanced a view of 'Uthman's life, character and policies as one could hope for... She skilfully traces how the controversies that first arose with 'Uthman in the seventh century were spun out in later centuries by various Islamic thinkers, right up to the twenty-first century and the Arab Spring. Clearly and engagingly written throughout, it is an outstanding introduction to Islam's nagging sectarian divisions and political thought.' -- Fred M. Donner, Peter B. Ritzma Professor of Near Eastern History, University of Chicago