Infidels_ A History of the Conflict Between Christendom and Islam - Andrew Wheatcroft [0]
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Copyright © 2003, 2004 Andrew Wheatcroft
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
This work was originally published in the U.K. by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Books, in 2003.
RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reproduce an extract from “Lepanto” by G. K. Chesterton. Reprinted by permission of A. P. Watt, on behalf of the Royal Literary Fund.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Wheatcroft, Andrew.
Infidels : a history of the conflict between Christendom and
Islam / Andrew Wheatcroft.
p. cm.
Originally published: London : Viking, 2003.
eISBN: 978-1-58836-390-9
1. Islam—Relations—Christianity. 2. Christianity and other
religions—Islam. 3. Kufr (Islam) I. Title.
BP172.W52 2004
261.2′7′09—dc22
2003070378
Random House website address: www.atrandom.com
v3.1
For
ERIC OSCAR WHEATCROFT
in love and gratitude
History is the most dangerous product ever concocted by the chemistry of the intellect. It causes dreams, inebriates nations, saddles them with false memories … keeps their old sores running, torments them when they are not at rest, and induces in them megalomania and the mania of persecution.
PAUL VALÉRY
Reflections on the World Today
Contents
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Acknowledgments
Editorial Note
Maps
Preface
PART ONE
CHAPTER 1 “We Praise Thee, O God”: Lepanto, 1571
CHAPTER 2 First Contact
PART TWO
CHAPTER 3 Al-Andalus
CHAPTER 4 “The Jewel of the World”
CHAPTER 5 Eternal Spain
CHAPTER 6 “Vile Weeds”: Malas Hierbas
PART THREE
CHAPTER 7 To the Holy Land
CHAPTER 8 Conquest and Reconquest
PART FOUR
CHAPTER 9 Balkan Ghosts?
CHAPTER 10 Learning to Hate
CHAPTER 11 “A Broad Line of Blood”
PART FIVE
CHAPTER 12 “Turban’d and Scimitar’d”
CHAPTER 13 The Black Art
CHAPTER 14 Maledicta: Words of Hate
CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 15 The Better Angels of Our Nature
Notes on the Text
Sources and Select Bibliography
About the Author
Acknowledgments
THESE PAGES RECORD MY THANKS TO SOME OF THOSE WHO HAVE helped me understand the Infidels conundrum. With many, like Hassan and Mahmud, who appear in the preface, I do not know their full names. Chance has also played a large part. Often it was an unexpected and anonymous conversation in Amman or Texas that propelled me in a new (and profitable) direction. But I am particularly grateful to some I can name. First, those who have undertaken the thankless task of reading part (or all) of the text and putting me right. Dejan Jović has been kind enough to read through my chapters on the Balkans, suggesting many changes and improvements, and has not scorned my temerity (and ignorance) in trampling around in a field where I had so shallow a knowledge. Part of my newfound passion for southeastern Europe stemmed from the excellent “Creating the Other” conference at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis). Organized by the Center for Austrian Studies in May 1999, it had many Balkan tensions bubbling away below the surface. Yet we talked as dispassionately as possible about tragic events. With this book, likewise, detaching my own feelings from the subject matter that I was writing about has not always been easy.
Another area that I entered with very little prior knowledge was the role of language. Lance Butler has read every word, not just the material on language, and his advice and support have been invaluable. So too have Susanne Peters’s help and advice. She has also read every chapter, sometimes