"The eight centuries of reluctant cohabitation by Christians, Jews and Muslims on the Iberian peninsula have acquired new relevance in an age of mass migration of Muslims into 'Christian' Western Europe. For some the level of harmony which was acquired can be taken as an indicator of our future ability to live together.
Luc Corly's De Spaanse conquista en reconquista 711-1492 tries to tackle this complex and tricky subject, in itself a brave thing. In my opinion, Corluy writes a pretty robust political and military history of the period, but falls short in providing lessons for the present and future.
One of the advantages of going to Antwerp in January was visiting a Belgian bookstore, which is different from going to a Dutch one, not least in the availability of books by Belgians (cultural imperialism means you find lots of Dutch books in Belgium but fewer Belgian books in the Netherlands). This book was advertised as the first account of the Muslim presence in Spain in the Dutch language and I bought this book in the knowledge that I would be visiting Andalusia in May.
Corluy describes the general political and military history of the peninsula, despite his insistence in the introduction that he wants to offer a broader picture. I'd say that over three quarters of his book still focus on this narrow topic. There is some explanation of the social order, and there are interesting side stories on the Celtic church and monastic orders. But there is no sense of the economic history, only a hint on the demographic trends and very little on how Christians, Jews and Muslims actually lived together or even apart…"
Full article here
link
Hope you enjoy!.
Amicalement
Armand
