A History of Medieval Spain [Hardcover]

Joseph F. O'Callaghan (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 729 pages
• Publisher: Cornell University Press; 1st edition (December 1, 1975)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801408806
• ISBN-13: 978-0801408809
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,628,408 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good reference but a tough read, June 25, 2003

By 

Peter J. Adams (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A History of Medieval Spain (Paperback)

The major problem with this book is that it tends to get bogged down in narrative without enough analytical insight. The result is that the reader is faced with hundreds of pages of which kings fought which, married whom and so on. While there is commentary on which events are more important than others and why, it is a little sparse. I read all but the last 100 pages or so as I just ran out of steam. However, as a person who is interested in Spain and Spanish history, I plan to keep it on my shelf for reference purposes.

The book is sensibly divided into major historical time periods (i.e. Visigothic, Caliphate, etc) that give a good organizational framework. Each time period typically has two chapters. The first is more or less a historical narrative and is usually the more difficult to get through. The second is an often interesting discussion of the social and political institutions of both Christian and Islamic Spain. For example, there is a chapter that outlines the major officials of the Umayyad caliphate, their roles, powers, prejudices and so on.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In depth survey of medieval Spain, August 5, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A History of Medieval Spain (Paperback)

O'Callaghan provides us with an in-depth (728 pagess), well written survey of medieval Spain, starting with the Visigothic era in 415. The major sections of the book cover the monarchs, government, society, economy, culture and religion through the reigns of Ferdinand and Isabella. The book includes numerous maps, illustrations and genealogical charts. I highly recommend this book for the historian, student and general public with an interest in medieval Spain.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Standard Text, March 5, 2008

By 

El Picaro "Lion of New Spain" (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A History of Medieval Spain (Paperback)

This is the classic standard text and the best one volume overview of the period. Spanish history available in english tends to be broken down into ghetto sub-subjects making it difficult to arrange the period information relative to each other. This book will give you a general framework to organize the information of this period. Dry reading but useful to the thoughtful reader. This volume is inadeuqate as a sole source of medieval Spanish history but should serve as a base to branch out to the readily available historical alleys.