In 711 the course of Spanish history underwent a dramatic change. A small Arab army launched a raid on Spain and in just a few years the entire peninsula was under their control. The Islamic presence in Spain would last for nearly a thousand years, stamping an indelible mark on the language, art and culture of the country and profoundly affecting the course of European history. Critically, the scientific and philosophical learning of the Greeks and Persians had been lost to the West but was re-introduced to European intellectual life via the Islamic influence in Spain. The work of Newton would have been inconceivable without Islamic mathematics, and navigational instruments such as the astrolabe made possible the great voyages of discovery.
Compellingly narrated, Richard Fletcher reveals the culture of Moorish Spain in all its fascinating disparity. In the tradition of John Julius Norwich's engrossing accounts of Venice and Byzantium, he entertains even as he enlightens.
Über die Autorin / über den Autor:Richard Fletcher is a specialist in medieval history and teaches at the University of York. He is a fellow fo the Royal Historical Society.
Preis: CHF 25.90
