The Cross and the Crescent. Christianity and Islam from Muhammad to the Reformation by Fletcher, Richard - 2003

London England: Allen Lane. Hardback. First Edition. Slight foxing to top edge. This book is a brilliant short account of the relations between Islam and Christianity from the time of Muhammad to the Reformation, by one of England's leading medieval historians. The author shows how, despite long periods of co-existence and overlap, religious misunderstanding between 'the peoples of the book' 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, each viewed the other's religion as fundamentally different. Christians portrayed Moslems as bloodthirsty pagans and Muhammad as a false prophet, while Islam saw Chrstianity as a jumble of sects and conflicting stories. In Fletcher's words: 'Christiand and Moslem lived side by side in a state of mutual religious aversion. Given these circumstances, if religious… Read More

New York: Da Capo, 2003. 1st edition. Fine. octavo. dust jacket 183pp., maps, bibliog., index, Much of military interest covering the centuries-old battle for the Mediterranean inc. Rhodes, Malta, Sicily & the Barbary coast. PublisherÕs mark on bottom edge o/w Fine copy