The Arab Conquest of Spain: 710 - 797

A History of Spain

by Roger Collins

This book, now available in paperback, is a challenging and controversial account of the history of Spain in the eighth century. In it Roger Collins assesses the political and cultural impact on Spain of the first hundred years of Arab rule, focusing upon aspects of continuity and discontinuity with Visigoth Spain.

Genres: History, Spain, Spanish History, Medieval, Islam, Nonfiction, European History

256 pages, Paperback

First published February 27, 1995

About the author

Roger J. H. Collins (born 1949) is an English medievalist, currently an honorary fellow in history at the University of Edinburgh.

Reviews

[Gregory · Rating 2 out of 5]

More of a literature review about how 1000-year-old sources may or may not be reliable, instead of a narrative of the title events. Too much emphasis on historiography albeit necessary from a historian's point of view desiccates the interesting events for the general reader.

Got bored by the end, way too much time spent on the ancient feuds between obscure Christian bishops over their beliefs and fragmentary letters which may or may not exist. This book is a goldmine for some academic somewhere, but it just contains too much irrelevant information for the average reader curious about Muslim Spain.

[Arbitrista · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book undid several preconceptions I had about this period in history. Collins does an excellent job of forcing the reader to think through the improbabilities of elements of traditional Spanish historiography.

[Альберто Лорэдо · Rating 5 out of 5]

A majestic work of scholarship by R. Collins. Well researched and developed, this book covers in a very thoughtful way one of the periods less studied of Spanish history, looking at both Muslim and Christian areas, something very rare to find.

[Emil Idris · Rating 4 out of 5]

As another reviewer mentioned, this is more historiography than history. It's a detailed study and comparison of primary sources for the period in question. Informative but not really for the general reader.

[Antonio Morena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very dense, but essential reference material for the little studied first century after the Moslem invasion of Visigothic Spain.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The detail matters so much more. Fascinating stuff and a great read.

[Pedro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Segunda parte de la trilogía de Collins sobre la historia de la Hispania medieval. Nuevamente, el autor logra poner bajo la lupa un periodo muchas veces ignorado por los hispanohablantes. A diferencia de La España Visigoda, 409-711, Collins solo menciona la cuestión arqueológica a la pasada, lo cuál es lógico si tenemos en consideración que este es un libro que se propone sencillamente contar la historia de la conquista árabe.

[Kymber]

I'm trying to write a paper about the Arab invasions of Spain. Does anyone think this will help me? I think I will try to focus on the influence on language or maybe just their culture in general. Will this help?

[AskHistorians]

A more up-to-date book, but only covers of the first century of Islamic Spain. However, Collins is the authority on early medieval Spain and so this is definitely worth reading.