The Muslims are not our friends... never have been, never will be.

We must not ever forget the reign of terror and enslavement the Muslims waged against our people over the past 1000 or so years, from various invasions of Europe, to the religious wars, to the enslavement of over one million Europeans by Muslim slave traders.

I read the following book, and will post salient quotes when I get a chance. Till then, here's some blurbs:

White Gold: The Extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow and Islam's One Million White Slaves by Giles Milton

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/White-Gold-Extraordinary-Thomas-Million/dp/0312425295/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-7738715-8208061?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192523891&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: White Gold: The Extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow and Islam's One Million White Slaves: Books: Giles Milton[/ame]

Editorial Reviews:

From Publishers Weekly:

For this harrowing story of white captives in 18th-century Morocco, Milton (author of the highly praised Nathaniel's Nutmeg) draws primarily on the memoir of a Cornish cabin boy, Thomas Pellow, who was taken by Islamic pirates in 1716 and sold as a slave to the legendarily tyrannical Sultan Moulay Ismail. Pellow remained in Morocco for more than 20 years, his family barely recognizing him when he at last escaped home. Placing Pellow's tale within wider horizons, Milton describes how, during the 17th and 18th centuries, thousands of European captives were snatched from their coastal villages by Islamic slave traders intent on waging war on Christendom. Put into forced labor and appalling living conditions, they perished in huge numbers. As a pragmatic convert to Islam, Pellow fared better, earning a wife who bore him a daughter. Milton includes Pellow's years as a soldier in Moulay Ismail's army and draws out his cliff-hanging escape back to England.

From The Washington Post's Book World:

Giles Milton's new book is a fascinating account of a long-forgotten era when an awful menace terrorized the coastal waters of North Africa. In the 17th and 18th centuries, countless vessels leaving the coasts of Europe and colonial North America were seized at sea by bands of Barbary corsairs, who confiscated their cargo and dragged their hapless crews to the shores of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli to be sold into slavery.

Based primarily on narratives published by freed or escaped slaves, White Gold recounts the story of Thomas Pellow, who at age 11 joined the crew of an English trading vessel, the Francis, as a cabin boy and merchant's apprentice. Pellow's ship left Cornwall in 1715, carrying a cargo of salted pilchards to trade in Genoa. Upon setting sail for home, the Francis was overtaken by a band of "fanatical corsairs of Barbary" who, in a "deranged fury," boarded the ship, overpowered its unarmed crew and seized its precious cargo of Italian wares meant for sale in England. But the merchandise was a mere pittance compared to the real prize of the ship: its crew.

In the early 1700s, the trade in European slaves was a booming business throughout North Africa. According to Milton, nearly 1 million Europeans passed through the markets of coastal towns like Salé, on the north coast of Morocco, where they were auctioned off to the highest bidder. For better or worse, Pellow's crew was spared such humiliation and instead marched directly to the imperial city of Meknes, where they were ceremonially presented as gifts to the cruel and capricious sultan of Morocco, Moulay Ismail.

Being a strong and hearty young boy, Pellow immediately caught the attention of Moulay Ismail and was initiated into the sultan's personal retinue of servants. Pellow spent the next 23 years as a slave at the imperial court, where he was routinely beaten and starved, forced to convert to Islam and ultimately placed at the head of the sultan's armies. Through a series of fortunate accidents, Pellow not only managed to survive his ordeal but eventually escaped back to England to publish his adventures for a captive audience.