Ebook: Moorish Spain

Written in the same tradition as John Julius Norwich's engrossing accounts of Venice and Byzantium, Richard Fletcher's Moorish Spain entertains even as it enlightens. He tells the story of a vital period in Spanish history which transformed the culture and society, not only of Spain, but of the rest of Europe as well. Moorish influence transformed the architecture, art, literature and learning, and Fletcher combines this analysis with a crisp account of the wars, politics and sociological changes of the time.

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From Library Journal

Fletcher, author of the well-received The Quest for El Cid ( LJ 3/1/90), intends his new work to be an introduction to the culture and history of Moorish Spain. He has written for the traveler who wants more background than the average guidebook provides or for anyone who wants a thoroughgoing overview of the subject. Fletcher uses translations from Moorish poetry and historical anecdotes to illuminate a significant period in European history, arguing that Moorish Spain acted as a channel through which the philosophical and scientific works of the Islamic world passed to European Christendom. One example given by Fletcher is the development of Thomist philosophy, which sought to reconcile revelation and reason. The Moorish philosopher Averroes, whose treatises on Aristotle had attempted such a reconciliation of philosophy and religion in an Islamic context, was cited by St. Thomas Aquinas 503 times. This is recommended for public and academic libraries.
- Robert Andrews, Duluth P.L., Minn.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

An excellent, introductory text. . . . Richard Fletcher manages to give us a picture of Hispano-Arab culture -- its thought, architecture, poetry and politics (in under 200 pages. (New York Newsday