The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise
Muslims, Christians, and Jews Under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain
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Narrated by:
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Bob Souer
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 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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“There is no human being on the face of this earth exempt from the Jewish influence. For as long as there has been history, the Jew has wandered through it, shaping it at times, riding the current silently at other times, but always leaving his mark. History without the Jew? It is inconceivable.”—Howard Fast. His popular history brings the history of the Jewish people into focus, from Genesis to contemporary times.
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The Jews: Story of a People
- By SArt on 05-12-12
By: Howard Fast
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Lost Islamic History
- Reclaiming Muslim Civilisation from the Past
- By: Firas Alkhateeb
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
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Islam has been one of the most powerful religious, social, and political forces in history. Over the last 1,400 years, from origins in Arabia, a succession of Muslim polities, and later empires expanded to control territories and peoples that ultimately stretched from southern France to East Africa and South East Asia. Yet many of the contributions of Muslim thinkers, scientists, and theologians, not to mention rulers, statesmen, and soldiers, have been occluded. This book rescues from oblivion and neglect some of these personalities and institutions.
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Excellent narration
- By Jamal on 06-19-22
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Ancient Rome
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With commanding skill, Thomas R. Martin tells the remarkable and dramatic story of how a tiny, poor, and threatened settlement grew to become, during its height, the dominant power in the Mediterranean world for 500 years. Encompassing the period from Rome's founding in the eighth century BC through Justinian's rule in the sixth century AD, he offers a distinctive perspective on the Romans and their civilization by employing fundamental Roman values as a lens through which to view both their rise and spectacular fall.
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Great review and understanding of Christianity
- By David on 12-08-20
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The Shortest History of Europe
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Celebrated historian John Hirst offers a fascinating exploration of the qualities that made Europe a world-changing civilization. The Shortest History of Europe begins with a rapid overview of European civilization, describing its birth from an unlikely mixture of classical learning and Christianity and German warrior culture. Over the centuries, this unstable blend produced highly distinctive characters - pious knights and belligerent popes, and beyond - and its coming apart provided the dynamic of European history in modern times.
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Political Cheap Shots Instead of History
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The Story of Christianity
- A History of 2000 Years of the Christian Faith
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In The Story of Christianity, the distinguished theologian David Bentley Hart provides a broad picture of Christian history. Presented in 50 short chapters - each focusing on a critical facet of Christian history or theology, and each amplified by timelines, and quotations - his magisterial account does full justice to the range of Christian tradition, belief and practice - Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Evangelical, Coptic, Chaldean, Ethiopian Orthodox, and more....
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Great Brief Overview of Christianity
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The Bright Ages
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The word medieval conjures images of the “Dark Ages”. But the myth of darkness obscures the truth; this was a remarkable period in human history. The Bright Ages recasts the European Middle Ages for what it was, capturing this 1,000-year era in all its complexity and fundamental humanity, bringing to light both its beauty and its horrors. The Bright Ages takes us through 10 centuries and crisscrosses Europe and the Mediterranean, Asia, and Africa, revisiting familiar people and events with new light cast upon them.
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Does exactly what it claims to clarify
- By Aaron Rapozo on 12-13-21
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A History of Judaism
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Judaism is one of the oldest religions in the world, and it has preserved its distinctive identity despite the extraordinarily diverse forms and beliefs it has embodied over the course of more than three millennia. A History of Judaism provides the first truly comprehensive look in one volume at how this great religion came to be, how it has evolved from one age to the next, and how its various strains, sects, and traditions have related to each other.
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Not easy to follow.
- By Max on 03-12-19
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The Outline of History
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Having coined the phrase "the war that will end war," H. G. Wells was disillusioned by the World War I peace settlement. Convinced that humanity needed to awaken to the instability of the world order and remember lessons from the past, the author of science-fiction classics set out to write about history. Wells hoped to remind mankind of its common past, provide it with a basis for international patriotism, and guide it to renounce war.
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Loved it
- By Eric on 05-07-15
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Worlds at War
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In the tradition of Jared Diamond and Jacques Barzun, prize-winning historian Anthony Pagden presents a sweeping history of the long struggle between East and West, from the Greeks to the present day.
The relationship between East and West has always been one of turmoil. In this historical tour de force, a renowned historian leads us from the world of classical antiquity, through the Dark Ages, to the Crusades, Europe's resurgence, and the dominance of the Ottoman Empire, which almost shattered Europe entirely. Pagden travels from Napoleon in Egypt to Europe's carving up of the finally moribund Ottomans - creating the modern Middle East along the way - and on to the present struggles in Iraq.
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Great story, with a lot of unfamiliar names
- By Tad Davis on 07-02-08
By: Anthony Pagden
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What listeners say about The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Sunshine Reader
- 01-02-18
Repetitive
This reads more like a text book. The subject is well researched, but the other repeats the same points throughout the book.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 12-22-20
Refreshing
At first I thought this was going to be more of a history book it was more of a response to pro-Islamic notions that exist in academia. The author does a good job of addressing head on the claims that the Muslims who conquered Spain were fair and benevolent to the Jews and the Christians they defeated. He does a very good job of siting his sources and addresses all points of view to uncover the truth of what life was really like.
On a side note, I contacted the author about a request for further reading and he responded to me in less than a day with a few suggestions.
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2 people found this helpful
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- S. Rhodes
- 03-04-17
The real history.
No islamic apology or whitewash here. The author has used primary spanish sources and contrasted them to current comments by multicultural islamic apologists. An interesting and detailed exposition.
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9 people found this helpful
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- the camel
- 08-18-19
A Fair Treatment of Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain
I appreciate the author's careful use of sources to support his arguments. The audiobook reader does a great job, too.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Glaudrung
- 11-23-18
Great for Students
This book is what it's title suggests, it busts myths that float around about Spain when it was Muslim. He explains how that even if today there is such a thing as religious tolerance, in medieval times this was not the case and religious favortism if not systematic discrimination was the norm in both the Chtistian and Muslim Spain. For instance, the Visigoths (pre-Islamic rulers of Spain) are often depicted a crude and price peoples by historians, but archeology and the claims by invaders from north Africa that they deliberately erased all traces of what came before them show otherwise. He also explains how these misconceptions are the product of both medieval propaganda, the lack of interest in the subject, the difficulty in becoming familiar in the requisite languages for first hand research, and modern ideological interpretations and political agendas.
This book has two potential problems: First is that it is, of course, an esoteric book. It's easier to follow if you have a basic knowledge of what medieval Spain was (if you don't know what the Reconquista was, this book might be to much for you). The second is the inevitable issue that the writer has his own perspective. He is a European Christian, addressing distinctly European and western issues. To his credit he avoids religious arguments, instead going straight to primary sources to show what the theory and practice of medieval Spain was. And he concludes that it in no way matches up to statements made by modern progressives and the anti-religious.
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- Stephanie Forester
- 06-21-20
Great book, but a little academic for audiobook
Good book, but some of the conventions for academia come off as odd in audio.
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- Vic
- 08-10-22
Must Read
Great Book!! should be required reading in high school. look forward to reading other books by this author.
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- Edward Richard Brewer
- 01-11-23
Very interesting
I really enjoyed this book. I was visiting Spain when I listened to it which was incredibly informing to the history.
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- C. Walker
- 09-29-16
Smashes myths
Even freedom lovers have been fooled that there was freedom in Spain that the inquisitor Reonquistas ruined. Their heirs razed American civilizations and stole their wealth. Now we know that if they had a model for conquest, rule and run, it was Islam. That alone created the dark ages, more barbaric and totalitarian than the barbarians. Who were the Visigoths? You will know when you finish and what happened to them including the persecutions. There was little freedom, no women's liberation, but there was plenty of slavery.
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17 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 06-10-17
Excellent book of the true story of Spain under The Muslims.
This book turned out to be excellent and I became more excited about it as it went on. At first the scholarly nature, and somewhat flat narration, of the book made it initially troublesome to follow. However, after persevering through the first chapter, I came to appreciate the author's depth of research and the tremendous amount of original sources, both Christian and Muslim, which the author referenced to prove the author's arguments. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has been suspicious of the "history" portrayed as conventional wisdom in mainstream liberal, frequently anti-Christian, writings, which are read without question by most and accepted, from the time of elementary school on, as "the truth".
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