The myth of the Andalusian paradise : Muslims Christians and Jews under Islamic rule in medieval Spain Klappentext: Scholars journalists and even politicians uphold Muslim ruled medieval Spain al Andalus as a multicultural paradise a place where Muslims Christians and Jews lived in harmony. There is only one problem with this widely accepted account: it is a myth. In this groundbreaking book Northwestern University scholar Dario Fernandez Morera tells the full story of Islamic Spain. The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise shines light on hidden history by drawing on an abundance of primary sources that scholars have ignored as well as archaeological evidence only recently unearthed. This supposed beacon of peaceful coexistence began of course with the Islamic Caliphates conquest of Spain. Far from a land of religious tolerance Islamic Spain was marked by religious and therefore cultural repression in all areas of life and the marginalization of Christians and other groups all this in the service of social control by autocratic rulers and a class of religious authorities. The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise provides a desperately needed reassessment of medieval Spain. As professors politicians and pundits continue to celebrate Islamic Spain for its multiculturalism and diversity  Fernandez Morera sets the historical record straight showing that a politically useful myth is a myth nonetheless