The Orient in Spain: Converted Muslims, the Forged Lead Books of Granada, and the Rise of Orientalism: 142 xii, 466 pp. Edition

“García-Arenal and Rodríguez Mediano’s reconstruction of these complex intellectual networks is complemented by an exhaustive twenty-three page bibliograph of primary and secondary sources. Any scholar interested in the history of European Orientalism or Muslim-Christian relations in the early modern world will find this book to be an indispensable resource.”
Alison Weber, University of Virginia, Sixteenth Century Journal, XLVI 2 (2015)

“This review cannot begin to do justice to the achievement of The Orient in Spain, which begins in Granada and then ranges across the Mediterranean world to northern Europe, into secret crypts, lost books, and the hearts of a people determined to preserve their religious and cultural identity. It is an immensely important book, […] one that will reward anyone who is interested in a completely different view of the cultural and intellectual history of Early Modern Spain.”
Sara T. Nalle, William Paterson University of New Jersey, Medieval encounters 21 (2015)

“Based on vast research in European and Arabic sources, The Orient in Spain is a major scholarly achievement. It makes important contributions to the cultural history of Spain and the Moriscos, the history of European scholarship, and the cross-cultural history of the early modern Mediterranean.”
Daniel Stolzenberg, University of California, Davis, Renaissance Quarterly, 67:1

“Specialists in Spanish and European history will appreciate the sheer volume of information consolidated here, along with the extensive bibliography at the end. Likewise, the book’s organization according to major figures and their biographies will lend itself well for researchers trying to locate specific information.”
Jessica L. Chen, Stanford University, Religion, 46:1

“Fascinating to read and thoroughly stimulating (…) it is a vivid snapshot into how Arabs, Islam, and even Jews and Judaism were Christianized and assimilated into Spain.”
Jamsheed K. Choksy, Indiana University, Comparative Sociology 17 (2018).

Fernando Rodríguez Mediano is Scientific Researcher at the National Council for Scientific Research, Madrid. His has published about the history of Morocco and its relationship with Spain (15th-20th centuries). Among his publications: Fernando Rodríguez Mediano and Helena de Felipe (eds.),El Protectorado español en Marruecos. Gestión colonial e identidades, Madrid, CSIC, 2002; Familias de Fez (ss. XV-XVII), Madrid, CSIC, 1995.