the Ornament of World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture Tolerance in Medieval Spain

The "illuminating and inspiring" (Los Angeles Times) bestseller that reveals a "lost" golden age of medieval Spain, when Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together in an atmosphere of tolerance and literature and science flourished. This classic bestseller - the inspiration for the PBS series - is an "illuminating and even inspiring" portrait of medieval Spain that explores the golden age when Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together in an atmosphere of tolerance (Los Angeles Times). This enthralling history, widely hailed as a revelation of a "lost" golden age, brings to vivid life the rich and thriving culture of medieval Spain, where for more than seven centuries Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together in an atmosphere of tolerance, and where literature, science, and the arts flourished. "It is no exaggeration to say that what we presumptuously call 'Western' culture is owed in large measure to the Andalusian enlightenment...This book partly restores a world we have lost." -Christopher Hitchens, The Nation