History as prelude : Muslims and Jews in the medieval Mediterranean

This collection of essays by seven highly respected scholars is a straightforward narrative of real world—intellectual, commercial, spiritual, philosophical, scientific, esthetic—creative engagement among Jews, Muslims, and some Christians in daily life in Spain and around the Mediterranean. History as Prelude is a major contribution to the Israeli-Arab peace process because it undermines—in fact, blows away—the efforts of propagandists who serve governments or political movements to negate the reality of the Arab-Jewish relationship in the medieval Mediterranean. The contributors, in unassuming, well-researched scholarship have erected a wall protecting historical reality from distortion, providing irrefutable—and often delightful—examples of creative coexistence. Introduction -- Recovering history: a psychodynamic approach to peacemaking / Joseph V. Montville -- 1. Jewish and Islamic life in the Middle Ages: through the window of the Cairo Geniza / Mark R. Cohen -- 2. Sharing science: Jews, Muslims, and practical science in the medieval Islamic world / Thomas F. Glick -- 3. "The Battle of Alfuente" by Samuel the Nagid / Raymond P. Scheindlin -- 4. On Muslim curiosity and the historiography of the Jew of Yemen / Ahmad Dallal -- 5. Doctors without borders: medicine in the medieval Mediterranean world / Kathryn A. Miller -- 6. Merchants and cross-cultural commerce in the medieval Mediterranean world / Olivia Remie Constable -- 7. Sufism and philosophy in Muslim Spain and the medieval Mediterranean world / Diana Lobel -- Index -- About the editor and contributors. A collection of essays that offers a narrative of the intellectual, commercial, spiritual, philosophical, scientific, and aesthetic real-world creative engagement among Jews, Muslims, and some Christians in daily life in Spain and around the Mediterranean