Lost Paradise: The Story of Granada

by Elizabeth Drayson

'The true paradises are the paradises we have lost,' wrote Marcel Proust. This beautifully illustrated account of the historical city of Granada strikes at the heart of this message.

The Andalusian city of Granada has long cast its spell on visitors. In the ninth centruy, the Muslim sage Abd al-Malik described it as a place of enchantment, while a later poet, Ibn Zamrak, sang of it as a city that wears a crown upon its forehead, bejewelled with diamond stars. From the early Middle Ages to the present, foreign travellers have been bewitched by Granada's peerless beauty.

Granada is also the stuff of story and legend, with an unforgettable history to match. Romans, then Visigoths, settled here, as did a community of Jews; in the eleventh century a Berber chief made Granada his capital, and from 1230 until 1492 the Nasrids – Spain's last Islamic dynasty – ruled the emirate of Granada from their fortress-palace of the Alhambra. After capturing the city to complete the Christian Reconquista, the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella made the Alhambra the site of their royal court.

In this, the first narrative history of Granada for English-speaking readers, Elizabeth Drayson takes the reader on a voyage of discovery that uncovers the many-layered past of Spain's most complex and fascinating city, celebrating and exploring its evolving identity. Her account brings to the fore the image of Granada as a lost paradise, revealing it as a place of perpetual contradiction and linking it to the great dilemma over Spain's true identity as a nation. This is the story of a vanished Eden, of a place that questions and probes Spain's deep obsession with forgetting, and with erasing historical and cultural memory.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Spain, Spanish Literature, Medieval

Kindle Edition

Published July 8, 2021

About the author

Elizabeth Drayson specialises in medieval and early modern Spanish literature and cultural history, and has a particular interest in the Arabic, Jewish, and Christian cultures of medieval and Golden Age Spain, as well as in the relationship between medieval literature, art and film. Her publications include the first translation and edition of Juan Ruiz's Libro de buen amor to appear in England (Everyman edition), as well as essays and articles on the Libro de buen amor, Berceo and the Poema de mio Çid. She is the author of The King and the Whore: King Roderick and La Cava, The New Middle Ages series, (London and New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007) which charts the reception of the legend of Roderick, last Visigothic king of Spain. Elizabeth has published several articles on the legend in medieval and early modern chronicles and early art, as well as giving numerous conference papers on the subject. Her monograph, The Lead Books of Granada, Early Modern History series (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2013, paperback, 2016) evaluates the cultural status and importance of the polyvalent, ambiguous artefacts known as the lead books, which were discovered on a hillside in late sixteenth-century Granada and embody many of the dualities and paradoxes inherent in the racial and religious dilemmas of Early Modern Spain. Her latest book The Moor’s Last Stand: how seven centuries of Muslim rule in Spain came to an end, which charts the life and times of Boabdil, last Muslim king of Granada, will be published in April 2017 by Profile Books.

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book felt quite dense at times, as did I for wanting a simpler format / diagrams to illustrate the key players across the different timelines / changing zones within Granada. Written excerpts from different contemporary sources bring the book alive. The epilogue brought the main points together in a pleasing conclusion.

[Amber Meller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read another if her book (The Moors Last Stand) and loved both of them.

[Henry Carless · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid and enjoyable read. In essence it consists of a series of case studies to illustrate its author's view that whilst Granada has had troubles bringing together its Islamic and Christian pasts, its physical space (as embodied by the Alhambra) allows it to flourish.

[Celeste · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book packed with information about Granada and its history. It’s well written and researched. I want to read her other book on the Lead Books. She gives a summary of the situation in Lost Paradise. I had heard about them in a class I took in Granada several years ago but I had forgotten about it and at that time it wasn’t explained in detail. This is not a guide book—it is a good read but much more profound. I enjoyed every word of it and it has enlightened me about the Civil War in Granada, the moriscos and the Lead Books and Muslim royal and noblewomen’s property rights during the Islamic reign.