Rating: 
Summary: Good travel guide, misleading historical context
Review: Menocal gives the impression that a great and tolerant culture existed in Spain from the time of the moorish conquest in the seventh century until the expulsion of the Jews by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492.Actually, this grand epoch lasted from about 900 to 1150.It was destroyed by waves of Islamic Fundamentalism and the Christian reaction thereto,culminating in the fall of Granada to Christian forces in 1492 and the expulsion of the Jews in the same year.Understandably,with the Mediterranian sea being a muslim lake and large Muslin armies located just across the straits of gibraltar,the Christians feared a counteract and wanted to guard against possible 5th columns.This was the rational behind the expulsion of the Jews and the outlawing of Islam.
Interestingly,at the time of the expulsion, there were approximately 400,000 Jews in Spain. Approximately 100,000 had already converted to Christianity.Of the remaining, only about 40,000 actually left.Most went all the way to neighboring Portugal.A large number went to the Papal states in southern Italy and some to the Ottoman lands in the Balkans where they acted as Ottoman functionaries, extorting wealth from the sultans Christian subjects.
Rating: 
Summary: A Unique Time and Place
Review: Menocal has written a scholarly but accessible account of the extraordinary medieval Iberian culture of tolerance, and its collapse under the assault from fundamentalism and bigotry. She tells the story in a series of vignettes centered on prominent people such as Abd al Rahman, Maimonides, and others, but they are vehicles for the larger story of a unique culture. It is far from a complete account--gaps are left between the chapters, which the reader will need to fill in with further reading--but that's not such a bad thing.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written but romanticized praise for a golden age
Review: Menocal uses slices of history to convey images of medieval life in Spain's Andalucia, where Arabs ruled over a mixed society of Muslims, Christians and Jews. For centuries, these people of the book managed to live and work together in an atmosphere of relative tolerance. Menocal emphasizes the intellectual and artistic achievements of that era, particularly the translations of Greek and Roman texts from Arabic into Latin and other European languages. Most of her writing is seductively accessible, notably in the earlier chapters. An atmosphere of tragedy seeps in later as Muslim and Christian puritans with little Andalucian experience disrupt the culture of tolerance. Menocal shows sympathy for sophisticated Arabs and scholarly Jews, but is less favorably inclined toward Christians, who are more likely to be portrayed as intolerant. While not an authoritative history, the book is worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: An invented interfaith utopia
Review: Ms. Menocal's idyllic view of Muslim Spain misrepresents the dhimmis (i.e., non-Muslim vanquished peoples) existence. She maintains, "The new Islamic polity not only allowed Jews and Christians to survive, but following Quranic mandate, by and large protected them..". The laws of dhimmitude, as opposed to flimsy notions of "tolerance" and "protection" determined the actual sociopolitical, and economic status of Christians and Jews conquered by jihad wars. Unfortunately, the so-called "tolerance" and "protection" she describes was afforded only upon submission to Islamic domination by a "Pact" - or Dhimma - which imposed degrading and discriminatory regulations. The main principles of dhimmitude were (and continue to be) : (i) the inequality of rights in all domains between Muslims and dhimmis; (ii) the social and economic discrimination against the dhimmis; (iii) the humiliation and vulnerability of the dhimmis. Moreover, Ms. Menocal seems to be unaware of the dire consequences for infidel dhimmis who in fact rebelled against the repressive Dhimma: slaughter of the rebels, and enslavement of their women and children. In reality, Muslim Spain was a country of constant jihad ruled under Maliki jurisdiction, which offered one of the most severe, repressive interpretations of Islamic law. Muslim Spain was populated by tens of thousands of Christian slaves, and humiliated and oppressed Christian dhimmis, in addition to a small minority of privileged Christian notables. The muwallads (neo-converts to Islam) were in nearly perpetual revolt against the Arab immigrants who had claimed large estates for themselves, farmed by Christian serfs or slaves. Expropriations and fiscal extortions ignited the flames of continual rebellion by both muwallads and mozarabs (Christian dhimmis) throughout the Iberian peninsula. Leaders of these rebellions were crucified, and their insurgent followers were put to the sword. These bloody conflicts, which occurred throughout the Hispano-Umayyad emirate until the tenth century, fueled endemic religious hatred. An 828 letter from Louis the Pious to the Christians of Merida summarized their plight under Abd al-Rahman II, and during the preceding reign: confiscation of their property, unfair increase of their exacted tribute, removal of their freedom (probably meaning slavery), and oppression by excessive taxes. The leader of the muwallad rebellion in southern Andalusia (near Ronda), Ibn Hafsun (d. 918), roused the peasants against the Muslim government which he accused of confiscating their property, and subjecting them to heavy tribute, and against the Arabs who were crushing them with humiliations, while treating them as slaves. In Grenada, the Jewish viziers Samuel Ibn Naghrela, and his son Joseph, who protected a once flourishing Jewish community, were both assassinated between 1056 to 1066, followed by the annihilation of the Jewish population by the local Muslim community (at least three thousand Jews perished in an uprising surrounding the 1066 assasination, alone). Finally, although Maimonides is frequently referred to by Menocal as a paragon of Jewish achievement facilitated by the enlightened rule of Muslim Spain, his own words debunk Menocal's utopian view of Islamic treatment of Jews: "..the Arabs have persecuted us severely, and passed baneful and discriminatory legislation against us'Never did a nation molest, degrade, debase, and hate us as much as they.." For those not enamored of utopianism, a more accurate assessment of interfaith relationships in Muslim Spain can be found in Richard Fletcher's very engaging "Moorish Spain". Mr. Fletcher offers these unromantic, but unassailable observations: "The simple and verifiable historical truth is that Moorish Spain was more often a land of turmoil than it was of tranquility'But in the cultural conditions that prevail in the west today the past has to be marketed, and to be successfully marketed it has to be attractively packaged. Medieval Spain in a state of nature lacks wide appeal. Self-indulgent fantasies of glamour..do wonders for sharpening up its image.". Following the cataclysmic events of September 11, 2001 there has been a decided tendency to recall nebulous "Golden Ages" of idyllic multireligious societies, invented so effectively (as in "The Ornament of the World", for example) that today one feels defenseless and disoriented, when brought face-to-face with the conflicts from another age, deliberately erased from history. We must forego this whitewashing and opt instead for a shared, candid reflection on the painful living legacy of dhimmitude to unite us in a joint effort for peace and mutual respect.
Rating:
Summary: This 'Ornament' More Romantic Than True; Better Alternatives
Review: My wife and I have a home in Andalusia. We also are enthusiastic but 'minor' league students of Moorish & Jewish history in Spain. So I bought this book as a easy-to-please, generalist and wanna-be fan. Unfortunately, this book comes up light on two levels. It provides few new relevations about the role of Moors and Jews in Medieval Spain. It also lacks good story telling on the major figures and thought leaders of this 700-year period. I found Menocal's analysis sharp and able, but sometimes overdone. And like too many academics, Menocal is neither a good storyteller nor writer. In summary, the lack of new insights and sharp writing spoils the book for me. More broadly, the fundamental premise of the book: That Arabs, Jews and Christians lived peacefully under Moorish rule, is more romantic than true. Except for a very brief period of 50 or so years around 900 AD, there was more persecution than tolerance over the 700 year Moorish period. Ask the Jews of Granada that were slaughered in 1066, or the thousands of Christians who were deported by the Almoravid dynasty to Morocco as slaves in 1126. During the same period, it is well known the Berbers of Northern Africa would frequently pillage Spain, robbing Andalusian Arabs and Christians alike. Later, of course, a united Christian Spain would deport the heavily taxed and persecuted Moors in 1492; some authorities report Muslims were forced to leave their children behind as slaves for the Christian Monarchs to work in various trades. I believe the book's only bright light is an interesting and original tale about how the enlightened Arabs and Jews of the period translated and preserved some of the world's best literature and science thought lost after the fall of Rome and Greece. The works of Aristotle, for example, were translated from Greek to Arab, then several hundred years later by the Christian clergy from Arab to Latin and other romance languages. An alternative book about Islamic and Jewish influences in Andalusia is Richard Fletcher's "Moorish Spain." Fletcher is considered by some authorities to be the Bernard Lewis of Islamic Spain and his well-written 1990 book remains the one of best efforts covering that period. Another well-written book, but more detailed effort, is L.P. Harvey's "Islamic Spain 1250-1500." A third book, a superior piece of modern travel writing, rich in Moorish and Jewish history, is Gees Nooteboom's "Roads to Santiago." All three of books are widely available, offer an unvarnished overview of Moorish & Sefardic Spain, and are worth consideration for people seeking a non-academic overview of this classic period. Good luck and good reading!
Rating:
Summary: Interesting vignettes hampered by poorly articulated thesis
Review: Not a history in the traditional sense, "The Ornament of the World" presents a number of biographical vignettes displaying the richness of literature, art, science, and philosophy in both al-Andalus and Christian Spain and how this intellectual renaissance resulted from the blending of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian heritages. The stories are valuable and fascinating because they rescue an important legacy from the oblivion of the ill-named "Dark Ages." Unfortunately, this rescue mission is hindered by an ill-conceived and even more poorly executed thesis. One of the major problems with Menocal's work is that she never tells us what she means by "a culture of tolerance." It is an odd and ambiguous phrase containing two very loaded words. Does "culture" refer to artistic and intellectual life, or to the religious, political, and social climate, or to the entire civilization and its customs and mores? Does "tolerance" merely mean mutual influence (in literature and art) or, more broadly, social acceptance (in everyday life)? On the one hand, the phrase "culture of tolerance" could signify the artistic and intellectual life created by the mixture of three religious heritages. On the other hand, it could mean a climate of economic acceptance and social open-mindedness. Or it could mean something in between: that the fusion of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish traditions resulted from (or perhaps resulted in) a more "tolerant" society. That the Iberian peninsula experienced an unprecedented tri-cultural fusion during the medieval period is nearly incontrovertible. Al-Andalus (as well as parts of Christian Spain) enjoyed a unique flowering of philosophical, architectural, and literary pursuits underscored by multilingual translation activities. Whether that indicates "tolerance" is another matter. Menocal is a professor of literature and language; as a result, her book focuses on literary and artistic achievements, but she ignores social, urban, economic, religious, and comparative history to the peril of her thesis. In the epilogue, Menocal herself acknowledges that "even when political and ideological circumstances are characterized by strife, artistic and intellectual life prospers" (Germany in the 1920s comes to mind). The simple fact that the Christian kings spoke Arabic and read Muslim translations and adapted Moorish architectural motifs does not mean they were "tolerant." When confronted with evidence that certain poets and intellectuals were in fact not tolerated (i.e., they were exiled or executed), she still tries to shoehorn their achievements into her nebulous thesis of "tolerance." A case could be made that, relatively speaking, medieval Spain did boast a culture or even climate of tolerance, but Menocal's survey is not broad enough to prove this thesis. She acknowledges in her post -September 11 postscript that "the forces of intolerance were always present and ultimately triumphed" in medieval Spain. Nevertheless, her book highlights the cultural achievements of a few literate, upper-class aesthetes and glosses over pogroms, exiles, persecutions, daily harassment, poll taxes, and slavery--not to mention the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim ghettoes. The result is a worthwhile glimpse of a nearly forgotten intellectual tradition but a lopsided view of medieval Spanish "culture." Finally, Menocal's presentation is hardly improved by her prose style. She persistently and unnecessarily uses the passive voice, she strings together barely related modifiers and clauses to create unreadable run-on sentences, she has a tic of using the word "But" to begin hundreds (no exaggeration) of her sentences, and she is fond of using repeatedly the same cliches and anachronisms ("the center did not hold," "bestseller," "realpolitik") and creating new ones ("memory palaces"). These faults hamper the telling of some otherwise very interesting stories.
Rating:
Summary: Menocal deserves a Pulitzer
Review: Occasionally an author/philosopher appears who is able to transcend contemporary groupthink and present a logical, rational, orderly, new vision of history. Alvin Tofler, whose analogy of the three waves of civilization presented an ordered view of human progress outside the usual names/dates/nation pedagogy, comes immediately to mind. Robin McNeil, in the Story of English, likewise showed how the democraticization of language, and the free "immigration" of words from other languages, made English the natural choice to become the international language. Maria Rosa Menocal presents a similar fresh approach to Western / Mediterranean / North African history by forcefully presenting Arabic as the primary language of cultural preservation and progress during the 7th through 13th centuries. While Hebrew and Latin were important clerical languages, Arabic was both clerical and the language of poetry and prose. Many of the scholars translating original Greek books were Jews - privileged members of Muslim courts - who were fluent in Arabic, the predominant Mediterranean language of commerce of the era. I never knew that. In my three years of studying Latin, I believed that Latin was the language of the middle ages, carefully preserved by hermetic monks laboriously copying parchment manuscripts. Menocal reveals the startling fact -to me,at least- that the califal library in Islamic Cordoba alone held 4000 books -the librarian's catalog held information on some 600,000 volumes - while the largest library in Christian Europe at the time was some 400 books!
I saw the book review in the Wall Street Journal and took the book on a just-finished trip to Spain. No one I talked to had any knowledge of the magnificent contriburtions of the Muslim and Jewish cultures beyond the architectural remnants. In fact, in Mallorca, the festival of the defeat of the Muslim pirates was the big event of the month. My Spanish friend, who tends to always apologize for her country, had no idea of the preeminence of Andalusian culture. Or that, as Menocal shows, in Toledo, in the mid thirteenth century, the first modern vernacular language, Castlian, appeared to supplant Latin as the language of learning in Christian Spain. Modern Spanish, long derided as the "easy choice" in high school, was actually the language of scholars. Having personally met several Holocaust survivors, with real tatoos, I was overwhelmed by the last chapter of this book. My thanks to Maria Rosa Menocal for masking history come alive. Those who forget the lessons of history.....
Rating:
Summary: Find another book and leave this one on the virtual shelf
Review: Ornament of the World is a perfect example of why historians do not always make good authors or storytellers. Maria Rosa Menocal had an interesting, judicious, and remarkable subject that could have been the rich historical narrative promised in the title of the book. Unfortunately, she entirely missed the mark with an incessant amount of winding run-on sentences that go no where and a completely bias point of view. I am someone facinated with the Muslim and Arab cultures and European history but I was very disappointed that Menocal chose to favor the Muslim account of history and devoted only a small fraction of the book to the other cultures. If you are still thinking of getting this book, just be forewarned - the cover may be pretty and the title may be enchanting but what you see isn't what you get. The only reason I gave this any stars at all is that I had to read it for my book club and it provoked some entertaining commentary from the group!
Rating:
Summary: Find another book and leave this one on the virtual shelf
Review: Ornament of the World is a perfect example of why historians do not always make good authors or storytellers. Maria Rosa Menocal had an interesting, judicious, and remarkable subject that could have been the rich historical narrative promised in the title of the book. Unfortunately, she entirely missed the mark with an incessant amount of winding run-on sentences that go no where and a completely bias point of view. I am someone facinated with the Muslim and Arab cultures and European history but I was very disappointed that Menocal chose to favor the Muslim account of history and devoted only a small fraction of the book to the other cultures. If you are still thinking of getting this book, just be forewarned - the cover may be pretty and the title may be enchanting but what you see isn't what you get. The only reason I gave this any stars at all is that I had to read it for my book club and it provoked some entertaining commentary from the group!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Start For Beginners
Review: Some reviewers understandably felt this book was too light based on their own prior exposure to this period. For people with a strong background in this era, this will be more of an adjunct-history book than anything new or in depth. For others, such as myself, who have a strong history background in other areas but not in this particular time or place, it is a lovely, lyrical and enchanting tapestry of intersecting faiths, arts, literature, languages and personalities that shaped not only Andalusian Spain but much of the early Renaissance of western Europe. I found it neither chaotic nor badly written--quite the contrary. This may be a matter of style preference: if you are the kind of reader who enjoyed PBS's "Connections" you will love this book. I found it easy to read and most importantly, I learned a lot. Why not 5 stars? I would've have wished for a time line, an index of key characters with their dates of birth and death, and more maps since the place, period and persons are new to me. Maybe the publisher will consider that for the next edition.
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