Moorish Spain

This is not a scholarly history but a "popular" account of Moors' dominion in Spain lasting almost seven hundred years. For the contemporary reader it explains the odd Christian-Muslim architecture one sees in Spain and finds exceptionally confusing. It evaluates the so-called compatibility between Jews, Christians, and Muslims alledged by amateur historians, and watches the languid plodding of European Christian efforts to settle Spain and convert it to a European country. A fine book for beginners in the study of a Spain often left out of European history.

I can't compare this book with other treatments of the Muslims in Spain, because it's the only one I've read. Being both compact and comprehensive, it can be very dense in places; nevertheless, it is both enlightening and readable. The book served to considerably augment my avocational, patchwork grasp of world history, and I enjoyed it. It should appeal to a wide audience.

This was one of several books used in a course on "Literature and Culture of Muslim Spain" that I took in 2009. As our professor pointed out, the period from 711 to 1492 is difficult because the Muslim culture flourished early in Iberia and then went into a centuries-long, anticlimactic decline. At the time I took the course I found this book difficult to absorb and much preferred the Maria Rosa Menocal's book on the same subject. However, post-graduation I've had time to read these two books separately and in their entirety. Fletcher's book has risen mightily in my esteem. While Menocal's very entertaining collection of essays does make it easy to relate to "Muslim Spain," Fletcher's task is far more difficult. He's trying to help the general reader make sense of a chaotic and scantily-documented period. His basic approach is chronological, but events often were affected by other events happening in the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond the Pyrenees, sometimes simultaneously, which often necessitates a little backtracking. Fletcher's writing is concise. It was often necessary for me to put the book down and think about what I'd read. However, by reading carefully the reader can learn a lot about the historian's tools. The book would be valuable to me for this reason, if for no other. "Nostalgia is the enemy of historical understanding," writes Fletcher in the final chapter of this book. As Ms. Menocal's book so aptly exemplifies, there is a tendency to romanticize al-Andalus. Fletcher romanticizes nothing. His agenda is historical understanding. I'd recommend, if possible, reading both Fletcher's and Menocal's books. They reinforce and support each other. Five stars for Fletcher, too.

Richard Fletcher's "Moorish Spain" is a refreshing tonic against the plethora of books on Islamic Spain idealizing the supposed 'Convivencia' (especially, "The Ornament of the World" by Maria Rosa Menocal). Fletcher avoids the tendency among many scholars who wish to find an apt, hopeful (albeit unrealistic) Christian-Islamic modus vivendi for Europe's present-day demographic predicament based on a romaticized model of medieval Spain. Presented in a well-researched, matter-of-fact fashion, the 'good' is presented in the context of the 'bad and the ugly'.

This book offers a well written historical insight in a unique but often romantisized part of one of the cultural hotspots of the world. I really appreciated the no-nonsense reality check approach of the author.A must for whoever spends more than a week in Andalucia and who is a very demanding reader.Entertaining and factual. A subtle balance.

Well written, with a great eye for detail. Only complaint was that is too short.

An incredible work and marks the void and absence of such an important period in world history that has been relegated to the periphery of European history, and regarded in nostalgic terms with early Islamic history.

the service was great I just had some issues about the book's content it is personal.