Moorish Spain
by Richard Fletcher
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Book Summary Information
Author: Richard FletcherEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-05-05
ISBN: 0520248406
Number of pages: 206
Publisher: University of California Press
Book Reviews of Moorish Spain
Book Review: A fine summary
Summary: 4 Stars
MOORISH SPAIN is a well-written and well-organized history of the nearly 800 years (711-1492) of political rule of parts of the Iberian peninsula by avowed Muslims. It was originally published in 1992, so it predates 9/11, but on balance I believe that is a plus. There was less reason or temptation to sacrifice broad historical perspective and the several judgments that Fletcher ventures are less likely to be dismissed or criticized as tainted by the more recent politico-religious furors. Probably the central point that Fletcher seeks to make, and substantiate, is that Moorish Spain, for all its artistic and intellectual accomplishments, was not a quasi-utopian oasis of peace and enlightened religious toleration, in stark contrast to Christian Europe of the Crusades and anti-Semitic pogroms. Another noteworthy lesson, at least to my mind, is that the Muslim conquests on the Iberian peninsula were motivated more by political considerations than by religious fervor.
There are a few slow patches (for example, Chapter 3) and several lapses into mind-numbing lists of political succession, but on the whole Fletcher, who obviously is conversant with a considerable number of both secondary and primary sources and clearly knows his stuff very well, does an admirable job of summarizing and synthesizing. I would be surprised to find another brief (less than 200 pages) history of the period and region that is comparable, much less superior.
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