Islamic Spain, 1250 to 1500

L. P. Harvey

1 He saves the best for last ...
First, the review from Dulles, VA is spot-on correct.

Second, note that this book does not present a complete history of "Islamic Spain" from 711 to 1492 but rather just the last 250 years from 1250 to 1500. If you're looking for material on Cordoba and the zenith of Al-Andalus in the 10th Century, this is not the right volume.

With the exception of the intriguing situation in Navarre, the initial chapters that survey the role of Muslims who continued to live within Christian kingdoms during the period covered by the book can be a bit trying. However, I was intrigued by the discussions of the efforts that were made to acommodate Islamic law within Christian kingdoms.

Once Harvey gets all that out of the way and gets to the story of Granada, the book takes wing. The story of the shifting alliances between and among the various Iberian kingdoms, the influence of North Africa from across Gibraltar, court intrigues, the development of military technology (especially artillery), the Christians gradual destruction of Granadan agriculture, and other factors combine to provide ample material for a rich story covering the 250 years of Granada and its seemingly inevitable downfall. The account of the siege of Malaga alone makes the book worthwhile.

Having recently travelled in modern Andalucia, I have a good sense of where the critical events transpired. I join in the criticism that the book's maps are disappointing. For example, several Nasrid rulers abdicated to "Guadix" but it wasn't until I pulled out my Michelin road map of Andalucia that I was able to locate it at all. Apart from that, I recommend the book.

2 Thorough and Scholarly
This historical study, written by the former head of the Spanish and Spanish American Studies Department at the University of London, describes both the last surviving Moorish kingdom in Spain and the situation of Moslems in Christian Spain during the same period. The author has drawn on both Christian and Moslem source materials, sometimes quoting them at length. He describes the politics as thoroughly as these sources allow. Some of the material on the Mudejars living in Christian kingdoms is too detailed to sustain the interest of most readers. On the other hand, the final chapters about the decline and fall of Muslim Granada have some of the fatal momentum of Greek tragedy. The biggest disappointment is the maps, the line and dot variety that give no hint of the terrain the contesting forces had to cross.