The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise: Muslims Christians and Jews Under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain

Scholars, journalists, and even 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 ground-breaking book, North-western University scholar Dario Fernandez-Morera tells the full story of Islamic Spain, drawing on an abundance of primary sources that scholars have ignored, as well as archaeological evidence only recently unearthed. Far from a land of religious tolerance, Islamic Spain was marked by religious and therefore cultural repression in all areas of life and the marginalisation of Christians and other groups - all this in the service of social control by autocratic rulers and a class of religious authorities.

This book is a desperately needed reassessment of medieval Spain. As professors, politicians, and pundits continue to celebrate Islamic Spain for its 'multiculturalism' and 'diversity,' Fernandez-Morera sets the historical record straight - showing that a politically useful myth is a myth nonetheless.