"Muslim Spain And Portugal" by Hugh Kennedy

Posted by J

Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus
by Hugh Kennedy

http://www.amazon.com/Muslim-Spain-Portugal-Political-al-Andalus/dp/0582495156/sr=8-1/qid=1165529206/ref=sr_1_1/104-5253685-8654347?ie=UTF8&s=books

This book does an excellent job of covering from the Andalusi (i.e., "Moorish") perspective the political history of Al-Andalus from right before its beginning at Gibraltar in 711 to the fall of Granada in 1492. Unlike Fletcher's "Moorish Spain" which left a feeling of an outsider European's perspective, Kennedy does an excellent job conveying the history from primary Arabic sources (as well as highlighting the deficiencies that result from their relative paucity). After reading (and I finished it as I was touring Al-Andalus, an excellent experience), I feel I have seen history as it was felt inside the kingdoms of Al-Andalus.

There are shortcomings though: this is a purely political and military history and it frequently reads like a textbook jumping from fact to fact. Historical anecdotes and tales which could bring the history more to life are there, but not in enough number I felt. Also, there is little to no coverage of cultural life and very limited coverage of economics and demographics. To be fair, that would have expanded the scope of the book enormously and Kennedy states up front that he chose not to do so. Fair enough, he wrote what was within his ability and resources to do and we need to turn elsewhere for those other issues. Still, I felt a little bit more of the cultural, economic, and demographic issue coverage -- even on a tangential basis -- would have brought the book much more to life.

Nonetheless, an excellent review of the political history of Al-Andalus, heavy usage of primary sources and discussion of the other secondary sources, and I heartily recommend the book so long as the reader also acquires a broader perspective on other aspects of the country from other books.