Richard Fletcher
Richard Fletcher is one of todayâ€™s most renowned medieval historians. In his latest book, he offers a brilliant survey of the relationship between the Islamic and Christian worlds from the seventh to the sixteenth centuries. He shows how, despite long periods of coexistence and overlap, religious misunderstanding between â€œthe peoples of the bookâ€ has been present since their earliest encounters. He argues that though there were fruitful trading and cultural interactions between Islam and Christianity during the period when Arabs controlled most of the Mediterranean world, neither side was remotely interested in the actual religion of the other. Christians portrayed Muslims as bloodthirsty pagans and Muhammad as a false prophet while Islam viewed Christianity as a jumble of sects and conflicting stories. , Fletcherâ€™s lucidity, scholarship, and gift for compression make this one of the most elegant and clear-sighted contributions to its subject for many years. It will appeal to readers of Karen Armstrongâ€™s bestselling ,Islam: A Short History, and to all readers looking for a better understanding of the Islamic worldâ€™s relationship to the West.
History,Religion,Nonfiction,Religion,Islam,Religion,Christianity,Historical,Medieval,History,Medieval History,Church,Church History,Academic,School
The Cross and the Crescent: Christianity and Islam from Muhammad to the Reformation