Can anyone recommend a good book on the history of Islamic Spain.

by Swerve21

I checked the books list and it didn't seem to have what I was looking for.

alfonsoelsabio

Sure! What specifically are you looking for? Era? Subject?

Here's a few:

The Caliphate in the West, on the Caliphate of Cordoba, and The Rise and Fall of the Party-Kings, on the taifa period, both by David Wasserstein (these may be difficult to get ahold of)

The Arab Conquest of Spain, 710-797 by Roger Collins

Medieval Spains by Bernard F. Reilly

Trade and Traders in Muslim Spain by Olivia Remie Constable

The Ornament of the World by Maria Rosa Menocal (this is definitely the most "general public" friendly that I've listed)

Again, I can probably give more recommendations if you'll be more specific as to what you're looking for.

Yawarpoma

I assign Fletcher's Moorish Spain. Its a pretty good introduction to the period. You can mine his bibliography to expand on any areas you wish to study in more focus. I like Wasserstein's The Caliphate in the West, Fuchs' Exotic Nation (Which is a different take on Moorish customs and expansion of Islamic culture in Iberia), and Harvey's Islamic Spain. I have another book on my shelf, Convivencia: Jews, Muslims, and Christians in Medieval Spain by Mann, Glick, and Dodds. It was published by the Jewish Museum of New York and quite good, but too expensive to assign to students. I think its worth a look to get more background on religious issues. Depending on what period of Moorish Spain you wish to study, I would recommend reading texts on Early Colonial Latin America or Early Modern Spain. Most authors of those texts highlight important economic, political, social, and religious concepts of the 15th century and collapse of the Kingdom of Granada. Books on the inquisition sometimes have decent sections on the lives of people during the Reconquista. Kamen and Elliot are the central authors here.