Architecture of the Islamic West: North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, 700-1800

Some of the most outstanding examples of world architecture, such as the Mosque of Córdoba, the ceiling of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo and the Alhambra Palace in Granada, belong to the Western Islamic tradition. This architectural style flourished for over a thousand years along the southern and western shores of the Mediterranean, blending new ideas with local building practices from across the region.

Despite this, when Jonathan M. Bloom tried to teach an undergraduate course on the architecture of the Islamic West in the early 1980’s, he found there was virtually nothing he could give to his students to read on the subject: they didn’t speak French or Spanish, and much of the limited English-language material was either too general or too specialized. Nearly forty years in the making, Architecture of the Islamic West: North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, 700-1800 seeks to redress this oversight. Read on for a unique insight into how and why this book was written and a closer look at some stunning examples of Western Islamic architecture.