Europe and the Islamic World sheds much-needed light on the
shared roots of Islamic and Western cultures and on the richness
of their inextricably intertwined histories, refuting once and
for all the misguided notion of a "clash of civilizations"
between the Muslim world and Europe. In this landmark book,
three eminent historians bring to life the complex and
tumultuous relations between Genoans and Tunisians, Alexandrians
and the people of Constantinople, Catalans and Maghrebis--the
myriad groups and individuals whose stories reflect the common
cultural, intellectual, and religious heritage of Europe and
Islam. Since the seventh century, when the armies of
Constantinople and Medina fought for control of Syria and
Palestine, there has been ongoing contact between the Muslim
world and the West. This sweeping history vividly recounts the
wars and the crusades, the alliances and diplomacy, commerce and
the slave trade, technology transfers, and the intellectual and
artistic exchanges. Here readers are given an u