Islamic Spain 1250-1500 By L. P. Harvey. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1991, 400 pp.

Abstract

This book presents a remarkable account of the political history of Andalusia
(Muslim Spain) during the last phase of its existence. The author adopts
a cyclical approach in the sense that he traces the creation of the Banu Nasr
kingdom in Granada, its development, and its decline and fall. He studies the
period of each ruler in chronological order from the establishment of the
kingdom of Granada to its collapse. Instead of limiting himself to description
or repetition, he chooses to adopt an analytical approach which permits him
to deepen our insight regarding the period of each ruler. He reproduces a clear
picture which combines internal political developments and external relations
with the Christians.
The author studies the history of the Muslims of Granada as well as those
in Christian Spain up to the Christian conquest of Granada. He is correct in
including these two categories, for the religious, cultural, and linguistic criteria
unite these two groups, and also because their fates became similar after the
fall of Granada in 1492. Thus both groups can be considered “Moriscos,” a topic
which Harvey started working on over thirty years ago.
The book is not easy to read, because it reflects many years of research
and has tremendous cultural weight. To the author’s obvious strenuous intellectual
effort, one may add his intellectual integrity as a distinguished scholar
who is credible in the West and in the East alike, somethmg which not all orientalists
can claim. He is critical of the history which he studies and its sources
without being offensive; the distorting influence of a personal dimension found
in other historians is here minimized. The author criticizes himself before being
critical of others. His manner of presenting and interpreting history is convincing,
as his intentions are exclusively scholarly. The author is a member
of a breed that is not very common in the politically oriented European and
North American universities with regards to anything related to Islam and
Muslims. This is not to say that he is beyond criticism, however, as the book
could be faulted for not having relied directly on some of the fundamental and
primary Andalusian sources. We could disagree with his approach and suggest
other approaches. Fortunately for his readers, the author is perhaps more
conscious of his limitations than anybody else, which is also why he did what
he proposed to do so admirably ...