The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise cover art

The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise

Muslims, Christians, and Jews Under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise

By: Dario Fernandez Morera
Narrated by: Bob Souer
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £15.12

Buy Now for £15.12

About this listen

Scholars, journalists, and politicians uphold Muslim-ruled medieval Spain - "al-Andalus" - as a multicultural paradise, a place where Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived in harmony.

There is only one problem with this widely accepted account: It is a myth.

In this groundbreaking book, Northwestern University scholar Darío Fernández-Morera tells the full story of Islamic Spain. The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise shines light on hidden features of this medieval culture by drawing on an abundance of primary sources that scholars have ignored, as well as archaeological evidence only recently unearthed.

As professors, politicians, and pundits continue to celebrate Islamic Spain for its "multiculturalism" and "diversity", Fernández-Morera sets the record straight - showing that a politically useful myth is a myth nonetheless.

©2016 Darío Fernández-Morera (P)2016 Tantor Europe Islam Judaism Spain Middle Ages Middle East Iran Africa Mythology Ottoman Empire Imperialism Ancient History Portugal Crusade Spain Myths
All stars
Most relevant
The author seems to have decided to put the cart before the horse and come out fighting for a guilty verdict no matter what.

He used historical facts in an grudgingly manner to reach preconceived conclusions. Lack of tolerance, religious or otherwise, in the Middle Ages was not confined to Muslim societies, it was prevalent throughout Christian Europe, mostly in the shape of religious wars, burning of witches, etc...

In his attempt to prove his case, the author erred in producing full facts, especially those that might not support outright his claims. He even managed to come up with a number of historical falsehoods, such as the claim that Arabs didn’t know horses at the time of Muhammad. And that despite the accepted fact that Arab conquest successes were primarily attributed to the good use of the Arabian horse. And if not, can he tell us how come that today’s European racecourses are full of expensive & much adored ‘Arabian’ horses?

Finally, if the Spaniards did not appreciate at all the Muslim presence and hated historical Andalusia, then how come they kept the appellation for their southern provinces and erected a statute for Averroes in Córdoba?

History With Biased Slant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Turns out the popularly held Andalusian tolerance is significantly exaggerated. Jews were mistreated, and Christians were castigated. Both were impoverished by the high jizzya tax, and at the bottom rings of society, with persecution becoming more or less severe depending upon the whims of whoever was leader of the caliphates at the time, Umayyad or such.

Just a glimpse of what may happen to western Europe soon.

Exceptional scholarship utilises primary sources

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Absolutely relentless in his approach to combating the lies of modern academia, and there attempts to sanitize life in Muslim Spain.

A great book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A thorough debunking of the persistent fantasy of Islamic tolerance in Spain. Analysis of evidence which is conveniently ignored by many historians to skew their argument.

The facts not the myth

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Referencing a vast collection of Muslim, Christian and Jewish sources past and present the author clarifies Islam as an ideology of conquest whose ultimate expression in armed Jihad and goal quite literally world domination expressed explicitly in the Quran and numerous Hadith. Contrary to fashionable whimsical contemporary academic analysis the Muslim conquest of Spain.and its subsequent rule was brutal and uncompromising designed foremost to uphold the supremacy of Arab Muslims over its conquered subjects, prevent them "contaminating" Islam and extort from them protection money in the form of special taxes - all practices mandated by the Quran and upheld by Islam to this day.

An important book with relevance for now

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews