Depends which bit you read.
Its not in order. The bits that were written when Islam were not powerful and only a handfull of people preach tolerance and "hey cant we all get along". Once Islam had a decent sized number of followers the new verses "sword verses" are a bit more antagonistic. Later verses over right earlier parts. These are in the hadith and sura (I forget which is which) but they are either notes ol' Mo wrote himself or other peoples stories about hanging around with him in his adventures.
Check this documentary. Sorry its over an hour long :/ worth a watch, though from what I have read above many of you don't need any convincing to think the way you already do.
islam: what the west needs to know
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krvCQbzPKiI