I used to write a blog debunking Islamaphobic myths.

http://muslimbuddhist.blogspot.com/

I stopped when I discovered Loonwatch, which was doing a much better job than I was. Here is one of their best posts, with links to others.

http://www.loonwatch.com/files/2009/09/apostasy/

For detailed Intellectual histories, I would recommend anything by Karen Armstrong, Jonathan Brown, or Tariq Ramadan.

The best translation of the Quran is by Mustafa Khattab, and is called the clear Quran. It is available for free here.

http://bookofsigns.org/product/the-clear-quran-by-dr-mustafa-khattab/

The best thing about it is the historical commentary, which debunks the most common misinterpretations. Don’t trust any other free versions, which are mostly reactionary propaganda paid for with Saudi oil money. The book "Islam for Dummies" is also the reactionary Saudi version of Islam. And don’t believe anything written by Richard Spencer or Sam Harris. They don’t actually lie, to my knowledge, but they cherry pick shamelessly.

Judging from the comments on the Amazon page, I wouldn’t trust the Holland book. His skepticism about the original sources isn’t backed up by any scholars I have read. I’m also skeptical about the idea that Muhammad wanted to form an empire, (although a lot of scholars disagree with me on this). The Quran says only defensive wars are permissible, and all of the wars Muhammad fought in his lifetime were arguably defensive ones. The wars of conquest had to be justified by the convoluted interpretation of a particular passage in the Quran known as “the sword passage”.