Customer Reviews

The Cross and the Crescent: Christianity and Islam from Muhammad to the Reformation

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With research including the true story behind the El Cid legend and on Christian Conversion of Barbarians, as well as Moorish Spain, Fletcher has special experience to bring to the task at hand.

Emphasizing Christian-Muslim relations in Spain he provides balance and great interest with wise observations and fascinating examples. He does not idealize or demonize either but presents an interesting story and sound basis for understanding the era before the Reformation and an example for approaching interfaith history more generally.

This is an outstanding and readable book that maintains perspective and is soundly rooted in scholarship

Covering eight hundred years of Christian-Moslem relations in one hundred and sixty pages may seem like an impossible task, but Richard Fletcher does it remarkably well. He avoids the details of wars and dynasties, tracking the major flows of events both with general descriptions and with selected examples and quotations that make larger points. His first chapter is particularly effective in introducing the reader to Islam and the Arabs as they were in the seventh century, with Muslims generally aloof from Christianity while Christians saw Muslims as threatening.

Fletcher challenges some common wisdom, such as Pirenne's theory that Charlemagne would not have existed without Mohammad. His portrayal of the scholars whose translations of ancient works contributed to stimulating the Renaissance is less romantic than some other versions. Fletcher makes clear the practicalities of being part of a minority population. On the other hand, he responds to recent harsh criticisms of the Crusades by remarking that "rebuking the past from the different moral standpoint of the present does not advance historical understanding."

In his epilogue, Fletcher writes that attitudes laid down like rocks long ago continue to shape the moral environment of Muslims and Christians. "There is a geology of human relationships," he reminds us, "which it is unwise to neglect." Unfortunately, Fletcher has been poorly served by the inadequate maps that accompany his text, as they provide no geographic detail other than coastlines.

This is probably the only book that you need to read regarding the social relationships, commerce, science/philosophy that happened in the Mediterranean world for 1000 years. I really enjoyed it. And this time there are footnotes to the quotes, and a small further reading section that lists about 5 books for each chapter. Two of the suggested books are used in the book itself.

I became with Richard Fletcher's book as a result of a very favorable book review, and quickly realized why the review was so positive. When I finally located it, I was surprised how small it was. Nevertheless, Fletcher presents a concise and highly readable analysis of Islamic-Christian relations since the founding of Islam.

One aspect of the book I found especially fasinating was the relationship between "Eastern" christian churches and the Roman Catholic Church. Often, the Eastern churches (i.e., Armenian, Coptic, Greek Orthodox, Syrian, to name a few) were treated with as much suspicion by the west as Islam. Fletcher's discussion of the crusades was also fascinating.

To say that the subject of this book is timely and historically important is, of course, an understatement. Probably most Americans would learn something important about our Islamic neighbors at this time of war, hatred, bloodshed and misunderstanding. As we begin nation building in Iraq, or Iran or eslewhere in the middle east, as we watch the death toll mounting from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we will need as much information as we can gather to promote peace. This book is a great place to start.

Richard Fletcher is an emeritus professor from York University, whose The Barbarian Conversion: From Paganism to Christianity is a classic in the field of theological history. His short account of Christian / Islamic relations is similarly fascinating. Fletcher begins with a broad commentary on the dogmatic differences in religious texts: the Qu'ran, like the Bible is "revealed" knowlege - an understanding of man's role in the world through divine revelation. However, Fletcher points out, the nature of these revelations are telling: whereas the liturgical texts of Christianity are a "mass of myth, history, law, poetry, counsel ... no less than four versions of the life of Jesus of Nazareth, each one slightly different from the other three, ... and a work of apocalyptic prophesy unveling the imminent end of the world ..." Islam is much more doctrinally strict, without many of the ambiguities, contradictions and obscurities that Christianity has. The nature of Christian thought, then, is rooted in disagreement, debate and argument while the controversies of Islam primarily focus on the source of authority over the Islamic community (both politically and doctrinally.) These fundamental differences have shaped with ways in which followers of these brethern religions shape their view of the world.

From here, the interactions between Islam and Christianity are explored in greater detail, Fletcher explaining how these religious perceptions shaped the ways in which these two communities saw each other. What I found particularly interesting was the co-existance of Christian and Muslim on the "frontiers" - in Iberia, Anatolia and (later) the Balkans, and how these groups interacted and responded to one another. For example, while Christians are "People of the Book" (and thereby tolerated under Islamic law), there were varying degrees of tolerance over time - from Christians and Jews acting as bureaucrats in the Ummayad dynasty (early in Islam's history) to their place as very much second-class citizens after the Mongol conquest. Of course, such toleration was hardly the norm within Christendom, although I was suprized to learn of how much coexistence was the norm in Iberia before the Reconquista. Much of the book details the cultural, economic and especially intellectual interchange between communities in the middle ages.

One point Fletcher makes almost in passing (and this is unfortunate), is that for much of Islam's early history, it was aloof of Christendom, instead looking East. The result was that the Muslim world was largely unaware of the developments being made in Europe (economically and politically) that eventually caused the Christian West to economially (and to a large extent in the 19th century, politically) eclipse the Muslim East. This, in part, lies at the root of Islamic disaffection with the West and its modern secularism. That it "could not be any other way than" what is was is moot - but a point that I wish he had addressed in greater detail.

This reservation aside, its a very interesting short read. For those interested in comparitive religions, it won't answer many questions; rather, its strength is in showing the myriad similarities and sharings between faiths, even as each regarded the other with suspicion and (at times) hostility.

While this book is about Muslim-Christian relations, it also presents some unique information. In terms of specifics, the book tabulates the Biblical references to prayer (pp. 70-71). The postures of prayer include kneeling, standing, spreading out hands, etc. Parshall notes the irony of Muslim prayer habits often being "more Biblical" than the often casual manner that Christians pray. Although God is much more interested in the attitude of the heart than the position of the body, Parshall's analysis provides food for thought for all who would wish to re-evaluate their approach to prayer.

A truly remarkable, insightful and multi-dimensional historical novel. On the surface this a well written adventure - a page-turner with heroic, noble and principled characters. Beneath, it is a commentary on the unchanging nature of man in all his earthly arenas and follies: religion, politics, love, vanity, power, war, creativity and familial and romantic love. Made me stop and think repeatedly. Great Book!

A nice scholarly book about early Christian/Islamic relations. The book is fairly short, but it details the early interactions of these cultures and religions. I was surprised with the early Islamic quest of knowledge which ultimately led to translations and increased knowledge for the whole world. Even the early Christian societies came to depend on the efforts Islamic societies placed on knowledge. Then as Christian societies developed, Islamic societies turned inward and more dogmatic. At the end of the Reformation, Christian Europe was ascendant, and Islamic society was mired in a downward spiral.

This is a good book for some basic knowledge on how the two religions relate to one another. There is a need for more knowledge on this subject.

Although difficult reading at first, the meaning soon became clear about the subject. The recurring method of presentation in each chapter helped.

Mr. Fletcher provides a quick and concise overview of how the European Christian nations interacted and conflicted with their Islamic neighbors from the Middle-east. This book is a rare balanced account of the centuries-old international rivalry between the two regions. Although most people tend to believe that the conflicts were about religion, the fact is dominance in trade and other economic factors were far more prevalent. In fact, it was often the case that Islamic principalities valued military and trade alliances with Christian powers over that of potential or blatant rivals among their fellow Muslims. The same is true for some Christian principalities.
Mr. Fletcher points out both the positive and negative factors in cross-cultural contact, such as the advances in the sciences and technology passed on to Western academics, particularly in the 12th and 13th centuries. In open conflict, atrocities were commited by both sides. Under occupation, neither fared well under the rule of the other, but conditions varied by place and time. One of the author's main points is that neither side was particularly interested in the other's religion, but also that religious persecution was in fact a major concern.
It has been a recent trend that many books on the subject of Christian-Islamic conflict tend to openly disparage the Christian side, over-emphasizing the Crusading Era. However, these facts need to be considered, and they are covered in this book:
-Christianity first experienced Islam (in 634) as an invading conqueror, suppressing and exploiting all non-Islamic people.
-The Islamic powers have made several attempts to invade, conquer, and permanently colonize vast regions of Europe: the conquest of Spain in 711-18, remaining as a presence until 1492; the conquest of Sicily in 827; a raid on Rome in 846; destruction of the Byzantine Empire in 1453; conquest of the Balkans in 1521, Hungary in 1526, and besieging Vienna in 1529 and later in the early 1600s. These were deep incursions into Europe, with the intent of permanent occupation.
The Crusades, however, were limited to establishing control of the relatively small region of Isreal, with no real interest in taking larger areas of the Middle-east.
Islam had open disdain for the Christian world, but the Christians had much interest in studying Arabic culture and language. It is a fact that early Islam did much to improve the sciences inherited from the ancient Greeks. This knowledge was in turn improved and expanded upon by the Christian nations. But due to Islam's disregard of the West, its not surprising that as the Western culture began to grow and thrive, the Middle-east stagnated into obscurity, becoming a shadow of their former prominence for many centuries after Europe's Renaissance.